SRINAGAR: Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo on Wednesday called for a comprehensive and technology-driven approach to tackle the rising threat of cyber-enabled financial frauds and unregulated financial activities in Jammu and Kashmir.
Chairing the 37th Union Territory Level Coordination Committee (UTLCC) meeting convened by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), Jammu, Dulloo stressed the need for better coordination among regulatory bodies and enforcement agencies to counter emerging financial crimes.
He urged institutions including the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), National Stock Exchange (NSE) and Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) to launch large-scale capacity-building programmes for investigation and prosecution officers to strengthen their ability to deal with cyber-related financial offences.
The UTLCC, constituted by the Ministry of Finance, Government of India, serves as a coordination platform for financial regulators and enforcement agencies to prevent unauthorised deposit schemes, monitor unregulated financial activities and ensure timely exchange of market intelligence.
During the meeting, the Chief Secretary emphasised the importance of financial awareness and institutional preparedness. He asked SEBI and NSE to conduct awareness and training programmes covering nearly 50,000 participants, while urging ICAI to train around 20,000 stakeholders, including teachers, students, Self Help Group members, community influencers, law enforcement personnel and prosecution officers.
Calling for stronger enforcement mechanisms, Dulloo directed the formulation of a comprehensive Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) in consultation with the Home Department to clearly define the roles of different agencies and ensure swift action against financial offenders.
He also asked the Finance Department to expedite the finalisation of Chit Fund Rules to strengthen the regulatory mechanism and curb fraudulent investment schemes and unauthorised deposit-taking activities across the Union Territory.
Expressing concern over the growing use of technology in financial crimes, Dulloo called for intensified efforts against cryptocurrency-related scams, phishing attacks, fraudulent emails and other cyber-enabled offences.
He stressed the need to identify the masterminds behind such crimes and suggested strict measures under legal provisions, including attachment of properties and cancellation of documents such as driving licences, passports and vehicle registration certificates of offenders involved in cheating people.
Earlier, RBI Jammu Regional Director Chandra Shekhar Azad gave a detailed presentation on measures taken by the Reserve Bank of India to strengthen the country’s financial fraud prevention ecosystem.
He highlighted several initiatives, including the Financial Fraud Risk Adapter tool for banks, AI-based Mule Hunter tool to detect mule accounts, adoption of the “bank.in” domain, standardisation of customer communication numbers, tokenisation of card details and customer-controlled security features for banking services.
Azad informed the meeting that RBI has intensified financial literacy campaigns across Jammu and Kashmir, conducting over 113 awareness programmes for government employees, students, traders, business establishments and the general public.
Senior officials, including Additional Chief Secretary Finance, Principal Secretary Home Department, IGP Crime, Commissioner Secretary Law, RBI officials, representatives of SEBI and ICAI, and other officers attended the meeting.
