UCO Bank IMPS Glitch: Lender Recovers 79 Per Cent Of Wrongly Credited Amount

UCO Bank is, however, yet to clarify whether this technical glitch was due to human error or a hacking attempt

UCO Bank said that it has reported the matter to the law enforcement agencies for necessary action.

Source : Getty

UCO Bank on Thursday said the lender has retained or recovered Rs 649 crore, which is 79 per cent of the amount, erroneously credited to some accounts of the bank through Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) because of some technical glitch. Following the snag, the Kolkata-based public sector lender took various proactive steps and blocked the recipients' accounts. In a regulatory filing the bank said it has been able to recover Rs 649 crore out of Rs 820 crore which is about 79 per cent of the amount.

UCO Bank is, however, yet to clarify whether this technical glitch was due to human error or a hacking attempt. It is to be noted that the IMPS platform is operated by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

The bank has initiated requisite actions to recover the balance amount of Rs 171 crore, it said, adding, the matter has also been reported to the law enforcement agencies for necessary action. The bank earlier said, "It is clarified that the transactions observed by bank were due to internal technical issue as a result of which account holders of our bank have received some erroneous via IMPS. We wish to clarify that there was no issue with the IMPS platform."

The bank, as a precautionary measure, has made the IMPS channel offline and is working closely with the stakeholders to resolve the issue and restore the IMPS services at the earliest, it said. The bank said that it has reported the matter to the law enforcement agencies for necessary action, it said.

"The bank re-iterates and assures that all other critical systems are operational and available. The bank continues to provide safe and secured services to customers," it said. The financial impact, if any, due to the aforesaid is yet to be ascertained and the bank will endeavour to intimate the same on ascertainment, it said.

UCO Bank's net profit for the quarter ended September (Q2FY24) dropped 20.4 per cent year-on-year (YoY) to Rs 402 crore on a decrease in non-interest income and a rise in operating expenses. Sequentially, the banks' profit went up 79.7 per cent in Q2, from Rs 223 crore in the quarter ended June (Q1 FY24).

Shares of UCO Bank declined by 1.1 per cent to Rs 39.39 on the BSE in afternoon trade.