GOI Launches the Chakshu App & DIP App to Curb Financial Cyber Crime in the Country

Cybercrime is now reaching an unprecedented level in India. Every day we receive unwanted calls, messages and notifications from various apps, some of which could actually have the power to wipe out our bank accounts if not ignored. Messages containing random links only need a single click to deprive the user of their money. In a bid to combat this menace, the Indian government has launched two platforms: one for consumers and one for telecom operators, which will help the government stop these financial fraudsters and provide an extra level of security to consumers .

The Ministry of Telecommunications announced the Chakshu and DIP platforms yesterday. Chakshu simplifies reporting on fraudulent calls and messages and enables real-time intelligence sharing between various stakeholders.

Union Telecom and IT Minister Mr. Ashwini Vaishnav said: “Chakshu will enable Indian citizens to report fraudulent communications received via call or SMS or on social media like WhatsApp. Once this information is received, the platform will trigger a re-verification, and in case the re-verification fails, the number will be disconnected.

This will come in handy when criminals posing as bank or government officials attempt to call individuals and ask them to update their banking details or other utility connections.

Last month, when TRAI released its recommendations on launching a caller ID app on national networks, Ashwini Vaishnav announced that the government was trying to create such an app and was open to partnering with private platforms like Truecaller to offer better protection.

Currently, Chakshu is not available for individuals. It will solely serve as a platform for information exchange and coordination between telecommunications companies, law enforcement agencies, banks, financial institutions, government authorities and social media platforms.

The government also aims to create a grievance redressal platform to report inadvertently disconnected connections, as well as a gateway to return money that has been frozen.

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For now, Chakshu will be a backend application for requests made by citizens on the Sanchar Saathi platform. For those who don't know, the Sanchar Saathi platform was launched in May 2023 to track or block lost or stolen devices. The platform has tracked more than 700,000 mobile phones and detected more than 6.7 million dangerous communication attempts. The platform helped avoid losses of around 1,000 crores.

While Chakshu is aimed at agencies, the digital intelligence platform, also known as DIP, is aimed at consumers. It is part of the Chakshu and Sanchar Saathi apps and can be used by citizens to report numbers, messages or phishing attempts.

All they have to do is log in to the Chakshu window of the Sanchar Saathi app and fill out a form with details of how the fraudster tried to contact them. They will have to define under which category their complaint falls, like fake consumer helpline, fake KYC, identity theft, etc. Screenshots of these will need to be uploaded and all other known details will also need to be shared.

Data will be shared in real time with all stakeholders involved. The DIP will serve as a unified platform to immediately report such frauds. The government says this is a natural progression from the app launched last May and will better detect cyber fraud. In May 2023, it was claimed that with the Sanchar Saathi platform, international scam calls were also checked.

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