UCO Bank expects full recovery of Rs 820 crore in the IMPS fraud case

UCO Bank

Kolkata-based UCO bank is expecting full recovery of the Rs 820 crore that was erroneously transferred to different accounts in the IMPS case, said a top bank official.

"We are getting money back now from different accounts to which they have been transferred. The bank, on an average is getting Rs 1 crore on a daily basis, "said a top bank official who did not wish to be named.

UCO Bank was yet to recover Rs 114.69 crore of the Rs 820 crore as of December 7, according to the latest data shared by the government in Parliament.

A top bank official further added that many of the people who received the money had used their money immediately so it is taking time to get it back. "But the bank is hopeful to get full recovery soon. And we try to make our system stronger, "a top official added.

 UCO Bank lodged an FIR with CBI on November 15, 2023, regarding a transfer/deposit of Rs 820 crore to a number of different accounts from UCO Bank.

On November 15, UCO Bank took the IMPS money transfer option offline after a technical glitch caused valid transfers initiated by customers of other banks to be rejected. A senior official told Moneycontrol that errors occurred when customers of 6-7 banks initiated transfers to UCO Bank customers, due to which UCO Bank’s system sent a “transaction failed” message to the remitter banks and credited the money back to them, while also crediting the money to the intended recipient.

Noise of cybersecurity employees

MOS Finance Bhagwat Karad on December 18 said that a meeting was convened by the Department of Financial Services on November 28 to discuss issues related to cyber security in the financial services sector and increasing incidents of recent online financial frauds.

Representatives from various ministries/departments, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) and banks attended the meeting.

"The meeting took stock of the preparedness of the banks and other financial institutions in tackling the challenges arising from cyber security in the financial services sector, increasing trend of digital payment frauds, and deliberated on a focused approach to mitigate such cyber-attacks and frauds," Karad.

Parliamentarians have raised concerns over cyber security in the new Parliament building and called upon banks to take adequate steps to secure the financial assets of the public at large.

The MPs also stressed on the need to increase cyber security awareness in the country and called for developing a "cyber consciousness index" to gauge it.

Addressing a meeting of the Committee on Information and Communication Technology Management in the Rajya Sabha in the Parliament House Annexe Building, the members heard top officials of the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) and the public sector Punjab National Bank. The committee had met under the chairmanship of AAP member N D Gupta, where the Secretary, MeitY gave a presentation to the members on issues of cyber security and the manner in which the ministry and organisations under it are addressing the same.