The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has introduced a groundbreaking proposal in light of the rising cases of online and digital fraud.
According to a discussion paper released by the RBI, a one-hour ‘cooling period’ may become mandatory for digital payments exceeding ₹10,000.
This step has been taken because in the year 2025 alone, approximately 2.8 million cases of digital fraud were registered, causing the general public losses exceeding ₹22,900 crore.
Since money is transferred instantly in systems like UPI and IMPS, victims are left with no time to complain and stop the transaction.
Under the proposed rules, if a person sends an amount exceeding ₹10,000 to a new account, that money will not be credited immediately but will remain ‘provisionally debited’ (on hold) for up to one hour. During this time, if the user realizes they have been defrauded, they will be able to cancel that payment.
However, keeping in mind the daily needs of the common people, small payments and regular merchant payments have been exempted from this rule. This will not cause major inconvenience to the general public, while the possibility of recovery in large fraud cases will increase significantly.
The RBI has suggested even stricter security standards for senior citizens and persons with disabilities. A rule for ‘secondary co-authentication’ is proposed for payments exceeding ₹50,000 made by citizens over 70 years of age, under which approval from a trusted person may become mandatory.
Furthermore, there is also an idea for a ‘kill switch’, which would allow customers to immediately block all digital channels of their account in an emergency. The Reserve Bank has sought suggestions from the general public and banking experts on these proposals until May 8, 2026, after which the final guidelines will be issued.
