Digital payment has become an important part of our lives. Whether you want to pay money to the vegetable seller or make a transaction worth lakhs, everything is done with a single click of the smartphone. But, along with this convenience, the risk of online fraud has also increased rapidly. Every day cyber thugs steal the hard earned money of common people. In such a situation, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has brought a big relief for the general public. Recently, the Central Bank has presented the draft of a new proposal, under which if a small amount of digital fraud happens to you, then the loss will be compensated. Under this new system, the victim will be able to get compensation up to Rs 25,000.
What is the rule of compensation?
This step of RBI will directly provide relief to those customers who often become victims of small-scale online fraud. According to the new proposal, if a person is cheated in electronic banking transaction and his total loss is up to Rs 50,000, then he will be considered entitled for compensation.
As compensation, the customer will be given 85 percent of the total loss or a maximum of Rs 25,000 (whichever is less). However, a person will get this facility only once in a lifetime. If you become a victim of fraud again and again, you will not be able to avail the benefits of this scheme.
Steps will have to be taken within 5 days
Vigilance is very important to get this compensation. As soon as you realize the fraud, you have to take immediate action. Under the rules, the victim will have to inform his bank within 5 days of the fraud occurring. Along with this, it is also mandatory to lodge a complaint on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal or National Cyber Crime Helpline. After receiving the complaint, the bank will have to pay the compensation amount to the customer within just 5 calendar days.
Understand the mathematics of compensation amount
In this scheme, the economic burden of compensation will be divided mainly between RBI and banks. Its rules have been kept quite clear.
- If the loss is less than Rs 29,412: 65 percent of this will be given directly by RBI. The remaining 20 percent (10-10 percent) will have to be borne by the customer’s bank and the bank to which the money has gone (beneficiary bank).
- If loss is between Rs 29,412 to Rs 50,000: Maximum compensation will be Rs 25,000 only. In this situation, Rs 19,118 will be borne by RBI, while Rs 2,941-2,941 will have to be paid by both the concerned banks.
Later, banks will be able to claim their share from RBI on quarterly basis.
When will this new rule come into effect?
Reserve Bank Governor Sanjay Malhotra had hinted at this change while announcing the monetary policy on 6 February. After this, this draft of Customer Liability Framework related to digital transactions was presented on 6 March. At present, the Central Bank has sought the opinion of the general public on this, for which time has been given till 6 April 2026. If everything goes as per plan, this new rule will be applicable to all electronic banking transactions occurring on or after July 1, 2026.