Banks seek power to freeze accounts over illicit transactions to rein in cyber fraud

To check cyber fraud through mule accounts, banks are seeking authority to freeze accounts involved in channelling illicit transactions without wasting precious time in seeking permission from authorities.

Banks freeze or block accounts based on internal triggers, however, as per the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they do not have the authority to freeze or block customer accounts without proper authorisation from a court or law enforcement agencies (LEAs).

“In light of this, we may propose this as a suggestion for further consideration by the RBI,” a working group constituted by the Indian Banks’ Association said in a report.