More Than 84,500 Bank Fraud Cases Reported During 2019-20, Says RBI in Reply to RTI

Around 84,545 fraud cases – involving about Rs 1.85 lakh crore – were reported by scheduled commercial banks and select FIs during 2019-20, an RTI activist said, citing information received from the Reserve Bank of India. RTI (Right to Information) activist Abhay Kolarkar said that he had sought various banking related queries under the jurisdiction of the RBI in June 2020, and the replies to the same he received a few days back.

Kolarkar in his RTI query sought to know how many fraud cases have taken place during April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020 and the amount involved in it. The RBI stated that the total number of frauds reported by Scheduled commercial banks and select FIs during Financial Year 2019-20 is 84,545 and the amount involved therein is Rs 1,85,772.42 crore.

To the query about how many bank employees are involved in fraud cases and how much amount is involved, the RBI replied that the information on the question is not available. "However, it may be noted that total number of frauds reported to have been committed by staff, as reported by Scheduled commercial banks and Select FIs during FY 2019-20 is 2,668 and amount involved therein is Rs 1,783.22 cr," the central bank said.

The RTI also sought to know how many consumer complaints received by the RBI's 15 ombudsmen offices during April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020. During July 1, 2019 to March 2020, about 2,14,480 complaints were received.

The highest number of complaints received by SBI- 63,259, HDFC bank- 18,764, ICICI bank- 14,582, Punjab National Bank- 12,469, Axis bank -12,214 followed by other banks. The central bank in its reply said about 56,493 complaints received between April 1, 2019 to June 30, 2019.

The RTI query also sought information on number of branches exited by banks and those closed after merger during April 1, 2019 to March 31, 2020. To which, the RBI provided information about the 'number of merged branches with another branch of same bank' during 2019-2020, which stood at 438 branches — SBI – 130, Central Bank of India – 62, Allahabad Bank – 59 and other banks.

The total number of branches closed in 2019-20 are 194, including 78 branches of SBI and 25 of Fino payments Bank limited.