What are ‘Chakshu’ and ‘DIP’, platforms launched by govt to curb online fraud?

The Centre on Monday launched two new digital platforms that will allow people to flag calls and text messages by fraudsters adding a layer of additional protection against criminals using technology to rob people off their money.

The new platform, ‘Chakshu’ and ‘DIP’ will be a part of the Sanchar Saathi portal and will allow for real-time intelligence-sharing among several stakeholders.

Union telecom and IT minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said, “Chakshu will allow Indian citizens to report fraudulent communication–whether received on call or SMS or social media like WhatApp. Once such information is received, the platform will trigger re-verification, and failing re-verification the number will be disconnected.”

Launched along with ‘Chakshu’, the Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP)’ allows for coordination among the stakeholders to curb misuse of telecom resources.

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The government launched the platforms as several instances of fraud came to the fore, with criminals pretending to be bank or government officials calling up individuals to garner their information for malicious purposes.

Here’s more about the newly launched platforms on Sanchar Saathi portal:

• Both ‘Chakshu’ and Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) are the latest additions to the citizen-centric facilities available on the Sanchar Saathi portal.
• The government will collaborate with private firms like Truecaller to improve the functionality of the platform ‘Chakshu’. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is also working on building an app for the ‘Chakshu’ platform.
• The new portals will act as means of information exchange and coordination agency among telecom companies, law enforcement agencies, banks and financial institutions, social media platforms, and authorities issuing identity documents.
• The portals will also contain information about the cases detected as misuse of telecom resources. This information could be useful to the stakeholders in their respective domains.
• Along with ‘Chakshu’ and ‘DIP’, the government will also create a grievance redressal platform for reporting connections disconnected inadvertently.

Neeraj Mittal, the Telecom Secretary, emphasised that the introduction of these two new portals marks further progress in addressing cybersecurity risks to the digital assets of every individual. He highlighted that these platforms will assist in preventing fraudulent activities and the misuse of communication systems.

(With inputs from ANI)