India has urged the RBI, NPCI, and banks to strengthen cybersecurity amid rising tensions with Pakistan and threats to digital payment systems.

To safeguard the nation’s financial institutions and digital payment infrastructure, the finance ministry has requested that the RBI, banks, and NPCI, among other important financial institutions, increase cybersecurity protection and remain vigilant.

“Yes,” We’ve released a thorough advice on it,” a senior government source said about

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which runs the real-time payments system UPI, major banks, and a few other organisations, thought to be crucial to the safety and integrity of the nation’s financial system, are all considered financial institutions.

The protection of NPCI and major banks serves as the foundation for the digital infrastructure that has revolutionised digital payments in India. Over 17–18 billion mobile payments of over Rs 24 lakh crore are made in India each month.

The warning follows rising tensions between India and Pakistan following the Pahalgam massacre on April 22 and India’s counterterrorism actions.

India thwarted waves of Pakistani drone and missile assaults on its border regions and military installations in Jammu, Pathankot, Udhampur, and other places on the evening of May 8.

The Centre has especially requested that these banks maintain heightened awareness and strengthen cybersecurity across the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) infrastructure, payment gateways, real-time gross settlement systems, and core banking systems.

Two weeks after 26 people were killed in a terror strike in Pahalgam, Kashmir, on April 22, India began Operation Sindoor early the next day, targeting nine militant sites in Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

Given the current circumstances, CERT-In and the Reserve Bank of India previously urged the majority of significant financial institutions and payment providers to be ready for any cyberattacks.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has an office called the Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) that keeps an eye on the nation’s digital assets and cybersecurity.

Under the National Technical Research Organization (NTRO), the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre (NCIIPC) is the national organization responsible for safeguarding Critical Information Infrastructure (CII) assets, whose disruption could have a significant effect on both economic stability and national security.