RBI Annual Report: Bank Frauds More Than Double In FY20 To ₹1.85 Trillion; Check More Details

In its annual report, RBI also mentioned Rs 2,000 notes were not printed in the year to March 2020 and that the circulation of the currency note, which was introduced in the aftermath of demonetisation in 2016, has declined over the years.

New Delhi: In its annual report Reserve Bank of India has come up with interesting data around the economy spanning from banking frauds to the number of notes printed besides projecting the country’s annual growth. Of all the details in the report released on Tuesday, the central bank noted that frauds reported by banks of ₹100,000 and above have more than doubled in value to ₹1.85 trillion in FY20, with the number of such cases increasing 28% in the same period.

As per the report in business daily Mint, the date of incidence of these frauds are spread over several previous years and are accounted for in the financial year when they are reported. The data also highlighted that a majority of these frauds are in loan portfolios of banks, both in terms of number and value.

“There was a concentration of large value frauds, with the top 50 credit-related frauds constituting 76% of the total amount reported as frauds during 2019-20. Incidents relating to other areas of banking, like off-balance sheet and forex transactions, fell in 2019-20," said RBI. After the account is declared fraud banks need to set aside 100% of the outstanding loans as provisions, either in one go or over four quarters, according to RBI rules.

Meanwhile, the report also stated that Rs 2,000 notes were not printed in the year to March 2020. It went to mention that the circulation of the currency note, which was introduced in the aftermath of demonetisation in 2016, has declined over the years. The number of Rs 2,000 notes in circulation stood at 27,398 lakh on March 31, 2020. That compares with 32,910 lakh at end-March 2019 and 33,632 lakh at end-March 2018.

However, the circulation of Rs 500 notes and Rs 200 notes has increased, both in terms of volume and value, over the three years beginning 2018. As per the annual report, no indent for printing of Rs 2,000 notes was made in 2019-20 and no fresh supplies were made by Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran Pvt. Ltd. and Security Printing and Minting Corp. of India Ltd. In fact, out of a total of 2,96,695 pieces of Fake Indian Currency Notes (FICNs) detected in the banking sector in the last fiscal, 4.6 per cent were detected at the Reserve Bank and 95.4 per cent by other banks, the report added.