Bank fraud cases decline by about 50% in FY22: MoS Finance tells Parliament

Cases of frauds on public sector banks have come down by about 50 per cent in FY'22 to 2,369 as against 4,680 recorded in the previous fiscal, Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

The amount involved in the frauds too declined to Rs 3,204 crore from Rs 7,306 crore in 2020-21.

Comprehensive steps have been taken to tackle banking frauds, including an online searchable database of frauds reported by banks in the form of Central Fraud Registry to enable timely identification, control and mitigation of fraud risk and also to carry out due diligence during the credit sanction process, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said in a written reply.

"Public sector banks (PSBs) have been advised to strictly ensure rotational transfer of officials/employees," he added.

A National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal has been launched by the Ministry of Home Affairs to enable the public to report incidents pertaining to all types of cybercrimes. A toll-free number has also been operationalised to get assistance in lodging complaints, he said.

Replying to another question, Karad said the government last month launched the 'Jan Samarth' Portal, which hosts loans under 13 credit linked government schemes catering to youths, students, entrepreneurs and farmers for education loans, agriculture loans, business activity loans, and livelihood loans.

Any applicant/beneficiary can register, check eligibility under various government schemes and apply for digital loan approval through the Jan Samarth Portal, he said.

The use of Jan Samarth portal will ease the loan application and disbursement process.