NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has asked the Reserve Bank of India and banks to submit a report on more than 32 lakh debit cards compromised in India’s largest banking security breach and also their preparedness to deal with cyber crimes.
“Have sought a report on the debit card issue. The idea is to contain the damage,” said Jaitley. Explaining that the government was keen to allay any fears in the minds of people using credit and debit cards, he said that the inputs will be used to study and ensure such incidents do not happen in the future.
“There is no cause for alarm, the integrity of IT system of banks is robust and whatever action is required, the government will take promptly,” Shaktikanta Das, Secretary Department of Economic Affairs said.
As many as 641 customers across 19 banks have been duped of Rs 1.3 crore using stolen debit card data, in India, according to the National Payments Corporation of India.
A preliminary input “sort of report” is already with the government, he said. About 26.5 lakh card on Visa and MasterCard platforms were impacted while six lakh are on RuPay, in a breach that reportedly involved about 85-90 ATMs.
“After getting the report... whatever action is required…will be taken by the government… and it will be done with speed,” said Das. Das also pointed out that customers should not panic because these hackings are done through computer and trail can easily be reached. Visa and MasterCard, in separate statements, denied any compromise of their networks, while Hitachi subsidiary Hitachi Payment Services was investigating into the complaints.
All of them, Visa, Master card, Ru Pay and Hitachi are also examining if there was a malware problem. “..is important from the point of view of financial stability as well,” said Das.
The government will discuss the report at the Financial Stability and Development Council meeting to review the matter comprehensively. He said, directions will be sent to all the banks, public and private sectors, and some other financial institutions to take action.
Since Wednesday, several banks, including state-owned SBI, have recalled several cards, blocked the ones suspected to have been compromised and asked their customers to change PIN (personal identification number) before use.
Others such as ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank and Yes Bank have asked customers to change their ATM PINs as well. HDFC Bank and SBI have also advised its customers to use its own ATMs for carrying out any transaction.