Clipped from: https://www.financialexpress.com/business/banking-finance/banking-frauds-jump-46-to-rs-48021-crore-in-fy26/4254307/
Psu banks account for 74% of total fraud in FY26, reporting ₹35,709 crore in frauds
Bank Frauds Surge 46% to ₹48,021 Crore in FY26 as Loan Scams Rise: RBI Report
India’s banking sector reported a 46% year-on-year jump in frauds to ₹48,021 crore in FY26, the highest in three years, even as the number of fraud cases more than halved to 10,114 from 23,722 in FY25, according to the Reserve Bank of India’s Annual Report. The fraud amount in FY26 was more than four times the ₹11,013 crore reported in FY24.
Public sector banks accounted for 74% of the total fraud amount in FY26, reporting frauds worth ₹35,709 crore across 5,418 cases. Private sector banks reported ₹11,399 crore involving 3,956 cases. The RBI said data for FY26 included fraud classification in 314 cases amounting to ₹30,199 crore pertaining to previous financial years, which were reported afresh after re-examination in compliance with the Supreme Court’s March 27, 2023 judgement.
“An assessment of bank group-wise fraud cases over the last three years indicates that although the number of frauds for public and private sector banks have reduced, the amount involved has increased over the years,” the RBI said.
While card, internet and digital payment frauds accounted for the highest number of fraud cases in FY24 and FY25, the “advances” category accounted for the largest share in FY26. “In value terms, frauds were concentrated in the advances category across the three years,” RBI said.
Frauds related to advances rose 34.3% year-on-year to ₹40,774 crore in FY26 from ₹30,367 crore in FY25 and were 357.5% higher than the ₹8,917 crore reported in FY24. Advances accounted for 84.9% of the total fraud amount in FY26 compared with 92.6% in FY25.
The number of fraud cases linked to advances increased to 8,640 in FY26 from 7,924 in FY25 and 4,105 in FY24. Frauds involving cards, internet banking and digital payments declined sharply both in value and volume terms. The number of digital payment fraud cases fell to 293 in FY26 from 13,332 in FY25 and 28,836 in FY24. The amount involved declined to ₹29 crore from ₹517 crore in FY25.
Digital payment frauds accounted for 80.4% of all fraud cases in FY24, but their share dropped to 2.9% in FY26.
The RBI also said it is exploring the introduction of a ‘switch on’ and ‘switch off’ facility for all digital payment modes along with a ‘kill switch’ that would allow customers to block all debit transactions from an account in one stroke. The facility, the central bank said, could help strengthen consumer confidence and curb frauds in digital payment transactions.
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