Government failed to protect BHIM from hackers: Congress

New Delhi, March 21 : The Congress on Tuesday accused the Centre of making tall claims about online payment applications such as BHIM but "failing to protect it from hackers".

"The BJP government huffed and it puffed, but couldn't safeguard Unified Payments Interface (UPI), BHIM (Bharat Interface for Money) apps from hackers. How secure do you feel?" the party said on its official Twitter handle.

The Congress reaction came following media reports that the app witnessed fake transactions.

The National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), which has developed the apps, had on Monday denied reports and said the app "doesn't have any vulnerability or loopholes". 

The body had said the app has been secured by robust design. 

"The NPCI has done intensive testing, robust design of security controls and continuous monitoring of its UPI infrastructure. The environment in which BHIM or UPI is run by NPCI is highly secure and certified with best global practices," the NPCI said in a statement. 

According to the statement, BHIM has been downloaded 19.16 million times, but out of this only 5.1 million customers have linked their bank accounts.