RBI Plans 1-Hour Delay on Big Online Transfers to Curb Digital Fraud
The Reserve Bank of India proposes a 1-hour delay on digital transfers above Rs 10,000 to combat rising online fraud cases; key safeguards for users explained
April 10, 2026 - The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is contemplating introducing a wait time of one hour for digital transfers (involving UPI, etc) of amounts above Rs 10,000. This proposal by the country’s Central Bank has come in the wake of a worrying spike in cases of online fraud. Data on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal reveal that digital scams have jumped from 2.6 lakh reported cases worth Rs 551 crore in 2021 to 28 lakh cases worth Rs 22,931 crore in 2025.
In a discussion paper released on Thursday (April 9), RBI’s Department of Payment and Settlement Systems has suggested implementing the option of the one-hour wait period apart from additional safeguards like trusted person authentication and a kill switch which may soon be introduced to protect users.
If the wait period proposal were to be implemented then all account-to-account transfers exceeding Rs 10,000 would be put on hold at the customer’s end for one hour allowing him enough time to cancel the transaction in case it is unauthorised and/or suspicious. Within this window, the amount will be debited from the payee’s account but not instantly transferred like it works currently.
Additionally, in case of a big transaction which appears suspicious, the bank will also use this buffer period to contact the customer through alerts or prompts before processing the payment.
Other RBI suggestions:
Provide safeguards for elderly and vulnerable customers by adding a mandatory authentication through a “trusted person” for transactions above Rs 50,000.
Introduce a “kill switch” to allow the customer to immediately cut off all suspicious digital transactions.
Cap annual total credits into accounts at Rs 25 lakh. Any amount exceeding this figure to be held as “shadow credit” and become accessible only after the account holder has convinced the bank of it being valid. In absence of this, the bank will transfer the amount back into the account it was sent from.
Source: Media Reports
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