The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is setting up a fraud registry to help keep repeat offenders out. “The fraud registry will capture information such as IP (Internet Protocol) addresses and phone numbers, which will be reused for fraudulent activities,” Executive Director Anil Kumar Sharma said on August 29.

“A mechanism will be created for these details so that banks can report to us. This will help us prevent these fraudsters from exploiting the banking infrastructure to commit fraud again and again,” Sharma said.

The RBI governor said that it would try to blacklist the fraudsters once details such as their IP addresses and phone numbers are identified.

According to data shared by Sharma, the RBI received 4.18 lakh complaints under its ombudsman scheme in 2021-22, up 9.4% from the previous fiscal. An ombudsman is an officer who handles public complaints against regulated entities.

Over 40% of the complaints the Ombudsman receives each year relate to credit, debit or ATM cards, mobile and online banking. About 10% of complaints were related to individuals attempting to withdraw money from an ATM, only to find that the machine did not withdraw cash when the money was debited from their account.

In November 2021, the RBI streamlined the grievance mechanism and launched a comprehensive ombudsman scheme under a “one nation, one ombudsman” approach. The Integrated Ombudsman consists of three separate programs for banks, non-bank financial companies and digital transactions.

Under the integrated Ombudsman, the turnaround time for complaints has dropped to 38 days, less than half the 95 days in 2019-20.