The government has asked state-run banks to assist their regional rural arms in upgrading their technology and onboarding them to the National Payment Corporation of India’s (NPCI) BASE platform that facilitates the direct benefit transfer (DBT) program.
Last week, several cooperative banks and regional rural banks (RRBs) were affected by a ransomware on one of the technology service providers, C-Edge Technologies.
“Sponsor banks have been asked to help their RRBs with technology upgrades, which will improve their performance in areas related to credit disbursement, NPA management and cybersecurity,” said a government official, adding that Nabard will be closely monitoring this initiative.
In May 2024, Nabard asked all RRBs to revise their business continuity plans, or BCPs, and factor in comprehensive risk-management plans that cover all areas of their operations, including financial risks, technological risks and environmental risks.
“PSBs will help them in addressing issues like disaster recovery (DR) strategy, backup sites and outsourcing risks,” said a bank executive aware of the developments.
The finance ministry has also directed banks to get RRBs onboard the Bharat Aadhaar Seeded Enabler, or BASE platform of NPCI, which enables beneficiaries to check Aadhaar seeding status and other transactions in digital mode.
Earlier this week, it was reported that over 200 cooperative banks and RRBs faced disruption from a ransomware attack. NPCI, in a statement, said that it has been brought to its attention that C-Edge Technologies, a technology service provider that caters mostly to cooperative and regional rural banks, has been possibly impacted by a ransomware attack impacting a few of their systems.
“Further, necessary security reviews are under process, and connectivity to affected banks will be restored at the earliest,” NPCI added.
