Highest number of frauds at Kotak Mahindra Bank in 2021, followed by ICICI Bank: Govt data

 Kotak Kotak Mahindra Bank has been hit by the highest number of frauds at 642, involving Rs 1 lakh and above, in the first nine months of 2021-22, followed by ICICI Bank and IndusInd Bank at 518 and 377, respectively.
Presenting data of number of frauds in banks, involving Rs 1 lakh and above in last five financial years and the current one, Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad

informed Parliament that the number of frauds at Kotak has been on a rise from 135 in FY17 to 289 in FY18; 383 in FY19; 652 in FY20 and 826 in FY21.

For India's largest lender SBI, the number of frauds declined in last three years. There were 751 incidents in FY17; 923 in FY18; 931 in FY19; 673 in FY20; 283 in FY21, the minister said.

Directions issued by the Reserve Bank of India to banks, and the government instituted wide-ranging structural and procedural reforms have helped check frauds in banks over the last five years and the amount involved has come down sharply, Karad said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. Apart from this, measures have also been taken to deter fraudsters from committing crime, he said.
Bank frauds over the last five years have come down drastically to Rs 648 crore in first nine months of 2021-22, he added. In 2016-17, bank frauds stood at Rs 61,229 crore, which declined to Rs 11,583 crore in 2020-21 and then to Rs 648 crore during April-December 2021-22.

Improved detection and reporting along with comprehensive steps resulted in sharp decline of such frauds, he said.