The number of fraud cases reported in banks have gone up in FY24 but the total value has decreased, data in the Reserve Bank of India’s annual report released on Thursday said.

The amount involved in the bank frauds decreased 46.7% to Rs 13,930 crore in FY24 from Rs 26,127 crore a year ago.

The number of frauds reported in banks, on the other hand, rose 166% to 36,075 in in the financial year 2023-24 from the 13,564 cases reported in FY23.

An assessment of bank group-wise fraud cases over the last three years reveals that while private sector banks reported more cases, public sector banks continued to contribute maximum to the fraud amount, the annual report said.

The majority of fraud cases have occurred in the category of digital payments (cards and internet transactions) in terms of frequency and number and monetary value.

The report states that fraud cases reported in the loan portfolio (advances category) have constituted the primary source of financial loss.

Private sector banks mostly reported frauds in small-value card and internet transactions. Frauds in public sector banks were mainly in the loan portfolio.

The report further said that an analysis of reported frauds between 2022-23 and 2023-24 indicates a substantial delay between the date of occurrence and its detection.

The report revealed that 94% of the value of frauds reported in 2023-24 originated from incidents in previous financial years. 

Similarly, 89.2% of the value of frauds reported in 2023-24 occurred in previous financial years.