A total of 8,707 bank frauds involving a total of over Rs 1.85 lakh crore were detected during 2019-20, according to the Reserve Bank of India's (RBI) annual report released on August 25. This, against 6,799 cases involving Rs 71,543 crore in the previous year, the central bank said.
The report notes that the total cases of frauds, involving Rs 1 lakh and above, reported by banks and financial institutions (FIs) during 2019-20 increased by 159 percent (in terms of value). However, the dates of occurrence of these frauds are spread over several previous years.
As many as 1,558 fraud cases involving Rs 28,843 crore came to light during the April-June quarter this year.
While in 2019-20, the average lag between dates of occurrence of frauds and their detection by banks and financial institutions was two years, the RBI report said. The average lag is much higher in the case of frauds of over Rs 100 crore, about 63 months, with the dates of occurrence of these frauds are spread over several previous years.
"While the frauds framework focuses on prevention, early detection and prompt reporting, the average lag in detection of frauds remains long. The average lag between the date of occurrence of frauds and their detection by banks/ FIs was 24 months during 2019-20," the 2019-20 annual report said.
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Frauds have predominantly been occurring in the loan portfolio (advances category), both in terms of number and value. There was a concentration of large value frauds, with the top fifty credit-related frauds constituting 76 percent of the total amount reported as frauds during 2019-20, the report said.
According to the report, weak implementation of Early Warning Signals (EWS) by banks, non-detection of EWS during internal audits, non-cooperation of borrowers during forensic audits, inconclusive audit reports and lack of decision making in joint lenders' meetings account for delay in detection of frauds.
"The EWS mechanism is getting revamped alongside strengthening of the concurrent audit function, with timely and conclusive forensic audits of borrower accounts under scrutiny," RBI said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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