India's Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) and the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) have signed a memorandum of understanding to share real-time intelligence through DoT's Digital Intelligence Platform, targeting fraud in the country's fast-expanding digital securities market. The agreement formalises a cross-agency data pipeline that previously did not exist in structured form, allowing telecom-level signals, such as suspicious SIM activity, bulk messaging patterns, or spoofed caller IDs, to feed directly into Sebi's fraud detection workflow. The mechanism matters because a large share of securities fraud in India now originates through telecom vectors: WhatsApp pump-and-dump schemes, fraudulent stock-tip calls, and impersonation of brokers via unregistered numbers. By linking telecom monitoring to capital market surveillance in real time, both agencies can act at the point of communication rather than after financial harm is recorded. Enforcement coordination is the variable to watch: the MoU establishes intent and data-sharing architecture, but the speed and frequency of joint action will determine whether the platform shifts detection from reactive to preventive.
India's government plans to amend the Payment and Settlement Systems Act to restore UPI merchant discount rates, ending the zero-MDR regime in place since January 2020.
India's government has introduced the Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, proposing changes to payments regulation, income tax, and the Finance Act to attract FDI and support Make in India. The Bill's final shape will depend on parliamentary debate and committee review.
The government's Taxation and Other Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2026, proposes to replace the blanket UPI MDR ban with a system allowing the Centre to notify which payment modes stay fee-free.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Rs 5,000 crore Bhogapuram greenfield airport in Andhra Pradesh, built under a public-private partnership model. He also laid foundation stones for infrastructure projects worth nearly Rs 18,000 crore in the state, signalling a broad investment push for the region.
