8 fold surge in bank fraud cases at Rs 21,367 crore in 1st half this fiscal: RBI

New Delhi, Dec 28: There has been a significant surge in bank fraud cases in the first half this fiscal (April-September), with 18,461 incidents amounting to Rs 21,367 crore, according to a report by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). This is an almost 28 per cent rise in the number of cases (14,480 in April-September of FY24) and over eight fold increase in the total amount (Rs 2,623 crore), compared to the same period last fiscal.

In FY 2023-24, the internet and card frauds accounted for 44.7 per cent of the total fraud amount and 85.3 per cent of the cases, said the Central Bank in its report on trend and progress of banking in India. The report further stated that private sector banks reported 67.1 per cent of all fraud cases, while public sector banks faced the highest financial impact.

“In terms of number of frauds, the share of card and internet frauds was highest for all bank groups in 2023-24,” it mentioned. When it comes to enforcement actions, total penalties imposed on banks reached Rs 86.1 crore in 2023-24.

“Instances of penalty imposed on regulated entities (REs) increased during 2023-24 across all bank groups, except FBs and small financial banks (SFBs). The total penalty amount more than doubled in 2023-24, led by public and private sector banks. The amount of penalty imposed on co-operative banks declined during the year, while there was an increase in instances of penalty imposition,” said the RBI report.

Frauds present multiple challenges for the financial system in the form of reputational risk, operational risk, business risk and erosion of customer confidence with financial stability implications. “Going forward, there is a continuing need for banks to strengthen their risk management standards, IT governance arrangements and customer onboarding and transaction monitoring systems to check unscrupulous activities, including suspicious and unusual transactions,” said RBI.

The central bank is working on a public repository of digital lending apps to help customers verify the legitimacy of these services.