• RBI proposing one-hour delay on high-value digital transfers to curb fraud
• Fraud cases and losses have surged sharply in recent years
• Extra safeguards planned for elderly and vulnerable customers
• Measures include trusted-person approval and payment kill switches
• Move reflects shift toward balancing speed with security in payments 

India’s central bank is proposing sweeping changes to digital payments, including deliberate delays on high-value transfers and additional safeguards for vulnerable customers, as authorities confront a sharp rise in online fraud.

The Reserve Bank of India has outlined plans to introduce a one-hour delay on certain account-to-account transfers, according to a newly released discussion paper.

The measure is designed to give customers a window to stop suspicious transactions before funds are irreversibly moved through fast payment systems.

The proposal targets transfers above 10,000 rupees conducted through instant payment platforms such as the widely used Unified Payments Interface.

While these systems have driven financial inclusion and efficiency, they have also created opportunities for fraudsters to move stolen funds rapidly across accounts.

Under the central bank’s proposal, high-value payments would be subject to a temporary holding period, during which customers could cancel transactions if they detect suspicious activity.

The mechanism would involve a provisional debit from the sender’s account, coupled with alerts if the transaction is flagged as potentially fraudulent.

Officials stressed that routine, low-value payments would remain unaffected to avoid disrupting everyday financial activity.

Merchant transactions would also be excluded from the delay, given the existence of established dispute-resolution processes for such payments.

The proposals come against a backdrop of rapidly escalating fraud. Data cited by the central bank shows that reported digital payment fraud cases have increased more than tenfold in recent years, reaching 2.8 million incidents between 2021 and 2025.

Over the same period, financial losses surged nearly fortyfold to approximately 230 billion rupees.

The surge has been driven by increasingly sophisticated criminal tactics. Fraudsters are using fake call centers, mule accounts to channel stolen funds, and advanced techniques such as deepfake impersonation to deceive victims into authorizing payments.

In response, the central bank is also considering additional protections for older customers, who are often targeted by social engineering scams.

Under the proposed framework, individuals aged 70 and above, as well as people with disabilities, could be required to obtain approval from a designated trusted person before completing transactions above 50,000 rupees.

The Reserve Bank of India said such groups are “particularly vulnerable to social engineering-based frauds”, noting that these incidents often result in disproportionately high financial losses.

Customers would likely be able to opt out of these safeguards if they choose, reflecting an effort to balance protection with user autonomy. However, the proposal signals a broader shift toward more interventionist fraud controls within digital payment systems.

Additional measures under consideration include the introduction of transaction limits on certain accounts until further verification is completed, as well as “kill switch” functionality that would allow users to instantly disable all digital payment capabilities in the event of suspected fraud.

The central bank has invited public feedback on the proposals, with a consultation period running until early May. Following this process, regulators are expected to assess the responses and determine whether to formalize the measures into binding rules.

The move highlights a growing tension in digital finance. While instant payments have transformed the speed and convenience of financial transactions, they have also created new vulnerabilities that traditional fraud controls struggle to address.

By introducing friction into high-risk transactions, the central bank is seeking to rebalance the system in favor of security. The challenge will be to do so without undermining the efficiency gains that have made digital payments so popular.