PSB frauds dip 51% to ₹40K cr; cases don’t match pace in fall

NEW DELHI: Public sector banks (PSBs) reported over 51% dip in the amount involved in frauds to ₹40,295.25 crore during FY22, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said.

The 12 PSBs had reported frauds of ₹81,921.54 crore in fiscal 2020-21, RBI has said in response to an application under the RTI Act.

However, the number of fraud cases didn’t fall at the same pace as a total of 7,940 frauds reported by the PSBs in 2021-22, against 9,933 incidents reported in FY21, said the RBI’s reply to Madhya Pradesh-based RTI activist Chandrashekhar Gaur.

According to the RBI data on frauds reported by PSBs in all categories during FY22, the highest amount of ₹9,528.95 crore was reported by the city-based Punjab National Bank, involving 431 such incidents.

The country’s largest lender State Bank of India reported frauds of ₹6,932.37 crore in as many as 4,192 cases, reflecting a large number of small value frauds.

Bank of India reported frauds of ₹5,923.99 crore (209 incidents), followed by Bank of Baroda at ₹3,989.36 crore (280) and Union Bank of India ₹3,939 crore (627), while Canara Bank reported frauds of ₹3,230.18 crore in just 90 cases, indicating that the transactions were of high value frauds.

Among others, Indian Bank customers faced frauds amounting to ₹2,038.28 crore in 211 cases, Indian Overseas Bank ₹1,733.80 crore (312), Bank of Maharashtra ₹1,139.36 crore (72 cases), Central Bank of India ₹773.37 crore and UCO Bank ₹611.54 crore (114 crore), while Punjab & Sind Bank reported frauds of ₹455.04 crore in as many as 159 incidents.