Lok Sabha Question No. 4 (STARRED), answered on 2025-02-03
Subject: Fraud Cases in Banks
Ministry: FINANCE
Asked by: Dr. Shrikant Eknath Shinde, Dr. D. Purandeswari

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF FINANCE DEPARTMENT OF FINANCIAL SERVICES

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. *4

ANSWERED ON MONDAY 3 RD  FEBRUARY, 2025 / MAGHA 14, 1946 (SAKA)

## FRAUD CASES IN BANKS

## *4.  DR. D. PURANDESWARI: DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE:

Will the Minister of FINANCE be pleased to state:

- (a) the details of the number of bank-fraud related cases reported during the last five years, year and bank-wise;
- (b) whether the Government has data on the average investigation  time  in  bank  fraud  related cases and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the steps taken by the Government to expedite the investigation of such cases since January 2020;
- (d) whether the Government has taken any initiatives to prevent fraud and loan defaults in public sector  banks  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof  along  with  the  extent  to  which  these  have  been effective thereto; and
- (e) whether the Government is considering to create a special investigation unit for bank fraud related cases and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

## FINANCE MINISTER (SMT. NIRMALA SITHARAMAN)

(a) to (e): A statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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Statement referred to in reply to parts (a) to (e) in respect of Lok Sabha Starred Question No.  *4  for  reply  on  03.02.2025  regarding  Fraud  Cases  in  Banks  asked  by  Dr.  D. Purandeswari and Dr. Shrikant Eknath Shinde.

(a) to (e): Bank-wise and year-wise details of frauds in Commercial Banks and All India Financial Institutions (AIFIs), in respect of amount involved of Rs. 1 lakh and above in each case and by the date of occurrence, for the last five financial years and the current financial year till December 2024 are at Annex .

As per the Master Directions on Fraud Risk Management by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), banks  are  required  to  report  the  incidents  of  fraud  immediately  to  different  law  enforcement agencies  (LEAs), viz. the  Central  Bureau  of  Investigation,  State  Police, etc., depending  on  the amount involved in the fraud. RBI has apprised that information regarding average investigation time in bank fraud cases is not maintained by it.

Comprehensive steps have been taken to keep a check on the banking frauds and deter fraudsters, enabled by which amount involved in frauds based on the date of occurrence has declined from Rs. 33,757 crore in FY 2019-20 to Rs. 4,224 crore in FY 2023-24, and further to Rs. 837 crore in FY 2024-25 (up to December 2024).

Steps taken by the government over the last few years to prevent and to deter instances of bank frauds, to address issues related to loan defaults and to expedite the investigation of bank fraud cases include, inter alia, the following:

- (i) An online  searchable  database  of  frauds  reported  by  banks,  in  the  form  of  Central Fraud Registry, has been set up by the RBI to enable timely identification, control and mitigation of fraud risk.
- (ii) Credit discipline was instilled through -
- (a) enactment of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code; and
- (b) setting up of the Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC) by RBI to collect, store and disseminate credit data to lenders.
- (iii) Under  the  PSB  Reforms  Agenda,  comprehensive  and  automated  Early  Warning Systems (EWS) were instituted in PSBs, with ~80 EWS triggers and use of third-party data for time-bound remedial actions in the borrowing accounts to proactively detect stress and in turn reducing slippage into NPAs.
- (iv) The Fugitive Economic Offenders Act has been enacted to provide for measures to deter fugitive economic offenders from evading the process of law in India by staying outside the jurisdiction of Indian courts.
- (v) PSBs have been advised to obtain certified copy of the passport of the promoters/directors  and  other  authorised  signatories  of  companies  availing  loan facilities of more than Rs. 50 crore.
- (vi) Prudential Framework for resolution of stressed assets was issued by RBI to provide a framework  for  early  recognition,  reporting  and  time  bound  resolution  of  stressed assets, with a build-in incentive to lenders for early adoption of a resolution plan.
- (vii) Banks have been advised by RBI to report deficient third-party services (such as legal search reports, property valuers' reports, etc. ) and collusion of these service providers

with  fraudsters  to  the  Indian  Banks'  Association,  which  maintains  a  caution  list  of such service providers.

- (viii) The  Indian  Cyber  Crime  Coordination  Centre  (I4C)  has  operationalised  Citizen Financial  Cyber  Fraud  Reporting  and  Management  System  (CFCFRMS)  portal  for immediate  reporting  of  financial  frauds  and  to  stop  siphoning-off  of  funds  by  the fraudsters.  Up  to  January  2025,  than  Rs.  3,919  crore  has  been  saved  in  more  than 11.20 lakh complaints.
- (ix) Cyber Fraud Mitigation Centre (CFMC) has been established at I4C with representatives of major banks, Financial Intermediaries, Payment  Aggregators, Telecom  Service  Providers,  IT  Intermediaries  and  States/UTs  Law  Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) to work together for immediate action and seamless cooperation to tackle online financial crimes.
- (x) Seven Joint Cyber Coordination Teams (JCCTs) have been formed to foster a close cooperation  among  LEAs  during  interstate  cybercrime  investigations.  It  focuses  on operational cooperation in parallel investigations in various States/UTs.
- (xi) National Cyber Forensic Laboratory has been setup as a facility for forensic analysis and  investigation  of  cybercrime  by  use  of  the  latest  digital  technology  to  support investigations undertaken by LEAs.

Enabled by the aforesaid measures, gross non-performing assets of PSBs have declined to Rs. 3.16 lakh crore (gross NPA ratio of 3.09%) in September 2024 (provisional data) from Rs. 7.40 lakh crore (gross NPA ratio of 11.59%) in March 2019, and the slippage ratio has declined to 1.13% from 3.96% during the said period.

With regard to creation of special investigation unit for bank frauds, CBI already has its Banking Security  and  Fraud  Branch  for  investigation  of  bank  fraud  cases  and  State  Police  also  has Economic Offence Wing, which undertakes investigation, inter alia, of bank fraud cases. Further, no  such  proposal  is  currently  under  consideration  of  the  government  for  creating  a  special investigation unit for bank fraud related cases.

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## Lok Sabha Starred question no. *4, regarding Fraud Cases in Banks

## Details of frauds in Commercial Banks and AIFIs, in respect of amount involved of Rs. 1 lakh and above in each case, based on the date of occurrence

Amounts in crore Rs.

|                                                 | FY 2019-20   | FY 2019-20      | FY 2020-21   | FY 2020-21      | FY 2021-22   | FY 2021-22      | FY 2022-23   | FY 2022-23      | FY 2023-24   | FY 2023-24      | FY 2024-25 (till December 2024)   | FY 2024-25 (till December 2024)   |
|-------------------------------------------------|--------------|-----------------|--------------|-----------------|--------------|-----------------|--------------|-----------------|--------------|-----------------|-----------------------------------|-----------------------------------|
| Bank                                            | Number       | Amount Involved | Number       | Amount Involved | Number       | Amount Involved | Number       | Amount Involved | Number       | Amount Involved | Number                            | Amount Involved                   |
| Airtel Payments Bank Limited                    | -            | -               | 59           | 0.99            | -            | -               | 75           | 2.78            | 176          | 3.89            | 59                                | 0.87                              |
| Allahabad Bank                                  | 10           | 9.19            | -            | -               | -            | -               | -            | -               | -            | -               | -                                 | -                                 |
| American Express Banking Corporation            | 174          | 7.83            | 93           | 11.10           | 66           | 3.94            | 176          | 7.18            | 228          | 11.86           | 125                               | 3.76                              |
| Andhra Bank                                     | 4            | 53.74           | -            | -               | -            | -               | -            | -               | -            | -               | -                                 | -                                 |
| AU Small Finance Bank Limited                   | 18           | 2.87            | 16           | 5.05            | 15           | 0.68            | 64           | 3.42            | 514          | 14.26           | 686                               | 14.94                             |
| Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited | 1            | 125.53          | -            | -               | -            | -               | -            | -               | -            | -               | -                                 | -                                 |
| Axis Bank Limited                               | 402          | 1920.09         | 573          | 116.88          | 828          | 185.48          | 2,011        | 155.65          | 4,580        | 338.65          | 734                               | 82.50                             |
| Bandhan Bank Limited                            | 40           | 3.69            | 43           | 27.69           | 179          | 16.28           | 250          | 19.46           | 629          | 28.63           | 355                               | 11.80                             |
| Bank of America, National Association           | 4            | 0.11            | 2            | 0.07            | 2            | 5.58            | 2            | 0.07            | -            | -               | -                                 | -                                 |
| Bank of Bahrain and Kuwait B.S.C.               | -            | -               | -            | -               | 1            | 5.44            | -            | -               | -            | -               | -                                 | -                                 |
| Bank of Baroda                                  | 187          | 2465.54         | 119          | 385.63          | 128          | 708.52          | 275          | 498.78          | 1,355        | 81.87           | 224                               | 6.29                              |
| Bank of India                                   | 106          | 1078.73         | 80           | 286.20          | 124          | 51.44           | 130          | 31.57           | 110          | 21.89           | 20                                | 16.86                             |
| Bank of Maharashtra                             | 36           | 157.63          | 28           | 30.94           | 44           | 30.55           | 48           | 23.53           | 105          | 32.03           | 14                                | 24.16                             |
| Barclays Bank PLC                               | 1            | 121.43          | -            | -               | -            | -               | -            | -               | -            | -               | -                                 | -                                 |
| BNP Paribas                                     | 3            | 5.70            | 1            | 0.06            | -            | -               | -            | -               | 1            | 0.14            | -                                 | -                                 |
| Canara Bank                                     | 89           | 5079.83         | 83           | 3222.86         | 94           | 380.34          | 102          | 174.65          | 57           | 1176.12         | 2                                 | 0.57                              |
| Capital Small Finance Bank Limited              | 1            | 0.11            | 1            | 0.04            | 3            | 0.18            | 4            | 0.07            | 7            | 0.91            | 1                                 | 0.05                              |
| Central Bank of India                           | 129          | 326.50          | 103          | 32.09           | 173          | 34.37           | 192          | 32.90           | 352          | 38.66           | 58                                | 1.36                              |
| Citibank N.A.                                   | 247          | 10.87           | 117          | 9.32            | 203          | 4.51            | 1,519        | 36.77           | 31           | 0.80            | 49                                | 2.18                              |
| City Union Bank Limited                         | 11           | 1.67            | 16           | 19.70           | 8            | 20.48           | 49           | 38.47           | 259          | 12.73           | 170                               | 102.88                            |
| Coastal Local Area Bank Limited                 | -            | -               | 1            | 2.00            | -            | -               | -            | -               | -            | -               | -                                 | -                                 |

Annex

| Corporation Bank                                  | 4   | 0.22    | -   | -      | -     | -       | -     | -      | -     | -      | -     | -     |
|---------------------------------------------------|-----|---------|-----|--------|-------|---------|-------|--------|-------|--------|-------|-------|
| Credit Suisse AG                                  | -   | -       | 1   | 249.50 | -     | -       | -     | -      | -     | -      | -     | -     |
| CSB Bank Limited                                  | 33  | 2.65    | 71  | 11.71  | 59    | 2.21    | 172   | 9.49   | 164   | 17.89  | 30    | 3.47  |
| DBS Bank India Limited                            | 8   | 62.09   | 10  | 40.80  | 14    | 1.14    | 28    | 3.29   | 252   | 18.18  | 12    | 2.09  |
| DCB Bank Limited                                  | 14  | 8.79    | 9   | 7.81   | 5     | 0.46    | 12    | 1.49   | 145   | 12.41  | 71    | 2.94  |
| Deutsche BankAG                                   | 9   | 89.35   | 3   | 132.14 | 8     | 1.44    | 18    | 30.35  | 26    | 3.48   | 7     | 4.54  |
| Doha Bank QSC                                     | -   | -       | -   | -      | 1     | 17.62   | -     | -      | -     | -      | -     | -     |
| Emirates NBD Bank (P.J.S.C.)                      | -   | -       | -   | -      | -     | -       | -     | -      | 1     | 0.35   | -     | -     |
| Equitas Small Finance Bank Limited                | 31  | 3.65    | 42  | 17.64  | 41    | 3.01    | 100   | 7.93   | 107   | 6.75   | 63    | 3.32  |
| ESAF Small Finance Bank Limited                   | 8   | 0.32    | 9   | 0.74   | 13    | 1.31    | 32    | 2.09   | 47    | 2.23   | 11    | 0.23  |
| Export Import Bank of India                       | 3   | 443.04  | -   | -      | -     | -       | -     | -      | -     | -      | -     | -     |
| Federal Bank Limited                              | 48  | 540.86  | 77  | 58.61  | 75    | 69.82   | 207   | 32.88  | 849   | 64.83  | 26    | 0.79  |
| Fincare Small Finance Bank Limited                | 4   | 0.08    | 10  | 8.59   | 21    | 1.48    | 58    | 6.58   | 45    | 11.53  | -     | -     |
| Fino Payments Bank Limited                        | 30  | 1.56    | 23  | 0.53   | 26    | 1.06    | 37    | 1.35   | 152   | 6.01   | 17    | 1.57  |
| HDFC Bank Limited                                 | 536 | 632.39  | 429 | 231.81 | 591   | 235.25  | 2,891 | 581.21 | 5,611 | 670.24 | 2,030 | 69.51 |
| Hongkong And Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited | 242 | 8.55    | 141 | 2.61   | 86    | 2.63    | 128   | 16.87  | 255   | 6.24   | 460   | 11.21 |
| ICICI Bank Limited                                | 709 | 1223.70 | 617 | 998.24 | 1,346 | 253.10  | 1,950 | 200.53 | 6,652 | 345.01 | 1,736 | 81.83 |
| IDBI Bank Limited                                 | 174 | 785.25  | 136 | 389.44 | 137   | 388.04  | 142   | 35.10  | 111   | 14.71  | 44    | 3.42  |
| IDFC First Bank Limited                           | 102 | 35.80   | 81  | 32.21  | 51    | 5.36    | 152   | 9.15   | 236   | 12.60  | 42    | 2.02  |
| India Post Payments Bank Limited                  | 7   | 0.81    | 3   | 0.98   | 5     | 2.72    | 7     | 0.09   | 30    | 1.61   | 2     | 0.03  |
| Indian Bank                                       | 130 | 934.66  | 99  | 693.98 | 109   | 1928.44 | 288   | 86.16  | 413   | 21.89  | 30    | 2.62  |
| Indian Overseas Bank                              | 71  | 430.75  | 45  | 101.92 | 38    | 102.61  | 103   | 38.96  | 421   | 10.13  | 120   | 5.76  |
| IndusInd Bank Limited                             | 122 | 300.48  | 400 | 496.78 | 1,376 | 60.92   | 1,614 | 82.71  | 2,088 | 70.00  | 535   | 82.65 |
| Jammu and Kashmir Bank Limited                    | 13  | 69.71   | 10  | 99.23  | 12    | 14.25   | 16    | 298.75 | 8     | 8.10   | 2     | 0.69  |
| Jana Small Finance Bank Limited                   | 57  | 4.17    | 29  | 3.45   | 34    | 4.60    | 27    | 0.65   | 23    | 0.77   | 5     | 0.08  |
| Jio Payments Bank Limited                         | -   | -       | -   | -      | -     | -       | -     | -      | 3     | 0.04   | 1     | 0.01  |
| JPMorgan Chase Bank National Association          | -   | -       | 1   | 0.49   | -     | -       | -     | -      | -     | -      | -     | -     |
| Karnataka Bank Limited                            | 70  | 704.48  | 19  | 23.91  | 27    | 112.01  | 31    | 64.66  | 44    | 7.81   | 1     | 25.21 |
| Karur Vysya Bank Limited                          | 32  | 465.62  | 6   | 20.54  | 25    | 270.07  | 34    | 120.51 | 125   | 38.58  | 35    | 4.52  |
| Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited                       | 657 | 261.72  | 828 | 89.41  | 924   | 94.76   | 708   | 39.70  | 877   | 41.24  | 216   | 5.46  |

| Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Lab Limited                 | -   | -       | 1   | 0.01    | 2     | 0.10    | 1     | 0.31   | 2     | 0.03   | -   | -     |
|-----------------------------------------------------|-----|---------|-----|---------|-------|---------|-------|--------|-------|--------|-----|-------|
| Lakshmi Vilas Bank Limited                          | 31  | 107.58  | 5   | 232.15  | -     | -       | -     | -      | -     | -      | -   | -     |
| MUFG Bank Limited                                   | -   | -       | -   | -       | 1     | 6.49    | -     | -      | -     | -      | -   | -     |
| Nainital Bank Limited                               | 7   | 2.41    | 5   | 1.33    | 5     | 0.29    | 2     | 0.52   | 8     | 7.11   | 4   | 16.17 |
| National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development | -   | -       | 1   | 819.26  | -     | -       | 1     | 0.40   | -     | -      | -   | -     |
| National Housing Bank                               | -   | -       | 1   | 2349.54 | -     | -       | -     | -      | -     | -      | -   | -     |
| North East Small Finance Bank Limited               | 3   | 0.21    | 5   | 0.52    | 4     | 0.26    | 3     | 0.12   | 7     | 0.86   | 2   | 0.19  |
| NSDL Payments Bank Limited                          | -   | -       | 1   | 0.16    | 1     | 0.05    | -     | -      | -     | -      | -   | -     |
| Oriental Bank of Commerce                           | 8   | 18.02   | -   | -       | -     | -       | -     | -      | -     | -      | -   | -     |
| Paytm Payments Bank Limited                         | 1   | 0.01    | -   | -       | -     | -       | 14    | 6.45   | 52    | 16.19  | 1   | 0.03  |
| Punjab and Sind Bank                                | 59  | 1926.67 | 65  | 102.56  | 31    | 6.41    | 27    | 62.99  | 27    | 3.70   | 17  | 0.28  |
| Punjab National Bank                                | 144 | 4190.29 | 107 | 689.92  | 117   | 2449.19 | 101   | 464.35 | 370   | 101.21 | 86  | 8.47  |
| RBL Bank Limited                                    | 67  | 15.74   | 60  | 26.33   | 155   | 5.30    | 895   | 28.27  | 1,159 | 36.91  | 248 | 15.92 |
| SBM Bank (India) Limited                            | 1   | 20.00   | 1   | 20.92   | 7     | 0.10    | 13    | 1.15   | 20    | 0.80   | 8   | 0.65  |
| Shinhan Bank                                        | -   | -       | 2   | 100.01  | -     | -       | 1     | 0.46   | 1     | 0.21   | 1   | 0.10  |
| Shivalik Small Finance Bank Limited                 | 1   | 0.42    | -   | -       | -     | -       | 3     | 0.10   | 5     | 0.18   | 7   | 0.19  |
| Small Industries Development Bank of India          | 2   | 11.81   | -   | -       | 2     | 1.16    | 3     | 24.71  | 2     | 12.51  | -   | -     |
| Sonali Bank                                         | 1   | 0.14    | -   | -       | -     | -       | -     | -      | -     | -      | -   | -     |
| South Indian Bank Limited                           | 42  | 980.30  | 35  | 135.22  | 50    | 51.79   | 64    | 40.93  | 133   | 42.30  | 34  | 2.06  |
| Standard Chartered Bank                             | 237 | 198.89  | 174 | 202.72  | 129   | 53.77   | 246   | 61.62  | 692   | 46.40  | 386 | 36.87 |
| State Bank of India                                 | 998 | 763.35  | 693 | 742.75  | 1,116 | 518.58  | 2,112 | 361.17 | 2,913 | 357.02 | 367 | 40.10 |
| Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation                 | -   | -       | 1   | 0.30    | -     | -       | -     | -      | -     | -      | -   | -     |
| Suryoday Small Finance Bank Limited                 | 12  | 0.29    | 13  | 0.52    | 5     | 0.39    | 9     | 0.80   | 27    | 2.77   | 18  | 0.58  |
| Syndicate Bank                                      | 37  | 60.33   | -   | -       | -     | -       | -     | -      | -     | -      | -   | -     |
| Tamilnad Mercantile Bank Limited                    | 46  | 55.24   | 50  | 150.58  | 51    | 31.55   | 42    | 22.88  | 21    | 24.87  | 6   | 0.15  |
| The Dhanalakshmi Bank Limited                       | 5   | 0.56    | 2   | 0.51    | 4     | 1.51    | 7     | 0.96   | 44    | 4.24   | 9   | 0.58  |
| The Industrial Finance Limited                      | 4   | 244.70  | 1   | 490.27  | -     | -       | -     | -      | -     | -      | -   | -     |
| Corporation of India UCO Bank                       | 156 | 984.07  | 221 | 144.97  | 101   | 1094.87 | 84    | 56.67  | 45    | 63.46  | 5   | 3.73  |

| Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Limited   | 44   | 3.17    | 34   | 2.49   | 34   | 9.49   | 48   | 4.37   | 179   | 5.78   | 46   | 1.77   |
|--------------------------------------|------|---------|------|--------|------|--------|------|--------|-------|--------|------|--------|
| Union Bank of India                  | 137  | 2915.46 | 122  | 607.43 | 131  | 414.90 | 285  | 174.77 | 186   | 316.40 | 11   | 121.54 |
| United Bank of India                 | 23   | 231.84  | -    | -      | -    | -      | -    | -      | -     | -      | -    | -      |
| Unity Small Finance Bank Limited     | -    | -       | -    | -      | -    | -      | 4    | 0.29   | 5     | 0.39   | 3    | 0.55   |
| Utkarsh Small Finance Bank Limited   | 8    | 0.46    | 15   | 14.38  | 9    | 1.61   | 19   | 0.98   | 23    | 4.16   | 13   | 0.56   |
| Woori Bank                           | 1    | 0.20    | -    | -      | -    | -      | -    | -      | -     | -      | -    | -      |
| Yes Bank Limited                     | 44   | 2643.23 | 39   | 400.16 | 84   | 12.23  | 201  | 24.58  | 307   | 21.84  | 197  | 4.56   |

Source: RBI

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