RBI Report
Bank fraud cases halve in FY26 but amount involved rises 46%
This story was originally published at 13:40 IST on 29 May 2026
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MUMBAI – The total number of frauds reported by banks and financial institutions more than halved in 2025–26 (Apr-Mar) but the amount involved increased sharply, according to data released by the Reserve Bank of India Friday. The number of fraud cases fell 57% on year to 10,114 in FY26. However, the amount involved in frauds rose to INR 480.21 billion in FY26, up 46% from INR 328.03 billion a year ago.
In FY26, most frauds occurred in the advances category, which accounted for 85% of the total frauds, the RBI said in its Annual Report for FY26.
Public sector banks reported the most number of frauds in FY26, over half of the total cases. State-owned banks reported 5,418 cases of fraud in FY26, down from 6,916 cases in FY25. However, the fraud amount reported by state-owned banks increased to INR 357.09 billion from INR 236.17 billion a year ago, data showed.
The number of fraud cases reported by private sector banks fell sharply to nearly 4,000 cases in FY26 from 14,024 cases a year ago. Notably, the private banks accounted for 39% of the total fraud cases, down from 59.1% in FY25. While the number of cases fell, the amount involved in frauds reported by private sector banks totalled INR 114 billion in FY26, up from INR 89.27 billion in FY25.
Financial institutions reported the sharpest rise in the fraud amount--INR 4.98 billion in FY26 from INR 130 million a year ago. "While number of frauds was highest under card /internet/digital payments category during 2023-24 and 2024-25, advances category accounted for the largest share in 2025-26," the RBI said. End
Reported by Nandini Sinha
Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury
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