Nris In UAE: How Indian Authorities Are Tackling Cybercrime, Banking Fraud

Question: Many persons in India have complained about false emails and fraudulent telephone/mobile calls being received. Some have fallen prey to fraudulent transactions, resulting in huge losses. Are any measures being taken to stop this practice and prevent frauds from being perpetrated?

ANSWER: The Reserve Bank of India has decided to introduce exclusive domains for banks which will make it easier to identify genuine banking websites and avoid phishing scams. Bank customers can verify the authenticity of an e-mail by checking if the website has 'bank' extension. If this extension is not there, it can be assumed that the email is from an unknown source and the customer may refrain from responding to the same. It has been emphasised by the Reserve Bank that the 'bank' domain has been exclusively assigned to Indian banks with the object of curbing cyber frauds and to ensure secure banking services. This will enhance trust in digital banking and payment services. The exclusive registrar for banks to register and obtain the domain name is the Institute for Development and Research in Banking Technology (IDRBT).

A separate domain 'fin' is proposed for non-banking financial entities with a view to create a trusted space for non-banking financial institutions and their customers. Further, with a view to combat online and telephone frauds, the Government has taken measures to 'whitelist' genuine financial websites and call centres. The Reserve Bank has mandated banks to use 160 series telephone numbers exclusively for transactional and service related voice calls. This will help customers to easily identify genuine and legitimate calls. Further, a web-based platform has been put in place for reporting payment related frauds.

Question: With the data centre industry growing at a fast pace, energy consumption will go up dramatically. Will power generation be able to keep up with the demand? This will be a big challenge for India.

ANSWER: Power demand and consumption in India are growing exponentially. While green energy will take time to be available, the country will have to depend on coal and oil for at least two decades to meet the demand for power. In 2024 the data centre capacity was 1.1 GW, which is expected to reach 3 GW by 2030. This is on account of rising data consumption, AI and cloud adoption, and policy initiatives which are focused on data localisation. State Governments are therefore ramping up the generation of electricity to meet the demand. This will entail massive investments in power infrastructure, for which both Central and State Governments are making substantial budgetary allocations in the next three years.

Edge data centres are coming up in Tier-2/Tier-3 cities where the power cost is 40 per cent lower and land is available at one-third the price prevailing in metros. In fact, about 20 cities have been identified where there is a distinct advantage in costs and the employee costs are 30 per cent lower than prevailing in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Bengaluru. Some of the State Governments which are surplus in power generation are attracting data centres by offering them land parcels at competitive rates and even electricity duty exemptions. Therefore, steps are being taken to ensure that the data centre industry continues to grow and is able to overcome the challenges which will arise if the target of 6 GW by 2033 is to be reached.

Question: While the highways and expressways in India have spread dramatically during the last ten years, the quality of construction leaves much to be desired. Are steps being taken to ensure that established construction standards are being adopted?

ANSWER: The Ministry for Road Transport has revised the eligibility criteria for bidding for highway projects under the hybrid annuity model (HAM) as well as engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) model. This revision has been done with a view to ensure quality construction for expressways and highways and timely completion of the projects to avoid cost overruns. Under the revised guidelines, the minimum financial requirement for bidders has been raised to 20 per cent of the estimated project cost from 15 per cent. Further, the net worth requirement for each member bidding through a consortium has been raised from 7.5 per cent to 10 per cent of the project cost.

For EPC projects, the minimum net worth of a bidder has been raised from 5 per cent to 10 per cent of the project cost and the average annual turnover requirement has been increased from 15 per cent to 20 per cent. Steps have been taken to ensure that companies with a good track record for executing such projects are eligible to bid. Further, to ensure quality construction within the stipulated timelines, provisions have been made to impose hefty penalties. During the financial year 2025-26, the Government is to invite bids for around 120 road projects, for which the project costs are estimated to be Rs3.5 trillion.

The writer is a practising lawyer, specialising in corporate and fiscal laws of India.

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