The government has collaborated with SBI Card and telecom operators to combat the rising menace of OTP-based online payment frauds.
According to sources, banks will track customer SIM card locations through telecom service providers and cross-reference them with registered addresses. If an OTP is detected going to a third location unrelated to the customer, the system will trigger a pop-up alert or block the OTP entirely.
This initiative aims to address the growing problem of cyberattacks, which have resulted in substantial financial losses. Statistics from the Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre (i4C) indicate that cybercriminals siphoned off approximately Rs. 10,319 crore between April 2021 and December 2023.
The Reserve Bank of India has previously enforced additional authentication factors for digital payments, but fraudsters have resorted to sophisticated techniques to reroute OTPs or deceive customers into revealing them.
In a separate development, electric scooter maker Ather Energy is reportedly in talks to secure a substantial funding round through a combination of primary and secondary share sales. Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal, an early investor in Ather, may sell his remaining stake to Zerodha co-founder Nikhil Kamath. Ather is also seeking primary funding of $75-90 million from existing investors, aiming for a valuation between $850 million and $1 billion.
The investment underscores Ather’s plans to expand production following the launch of its Rizta range of scooters targeting the family segment. The company aims to increase production from the current 1.5 lakh vehicles per year to 4.5 lakh after the Rizta’s release.
internationally, India has emerged as a hotspot for IT acquisitions by Indian outsourcing leaders. The pace of revenue growth in Europe has driven the acquisition of a dozen companies on the continent since the pandemic.
Peak XV Partners’ managing director, Piyush Gupta, is leaving the venture capital firm to establish his own fund specializing in secondary transactions.
