Bank fraud cases in India reduced in Financial Year 2026 as the Reserve Bank of India stated in its annual report that India reported fewer cases that year. However, the total amount involved in fraud rose to its highest in three years, driven by cheating in loans and advances and concentrated in state-owned lenders.
According to data released by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its latest annual report, in FY26, the banking industry reported frauds worth Rs 48,021 crore, up 46.4 per cent from Rs 32,803 crore in FY25.
The fraud amount for FY26 is more than four times the Rs 11,013 crore reported in FY24, the report said.
As many as 10,114 fraud cases were reported in FY26, down almost 57.4 per cent compared to 23,722 the previous year. The volume of frauds reduced by 71.7 per cent compared to 35,800 cases in FY24.
While the volume of reported frauds fell by more than two-thirds between FY24 and FY26, the value involved increased by 336 per cent.
“An assessment of bank group-wise fraud cases over the last three years indicates that although the number of frauds for public- and private-sectors banks have reduced, the amount involved has increased over the years”, the RBI said.
The highest number of frauds was reported under the card, internet and digital payments categories in FY24 and FY25, “advances” accounted for the largest share (85.5 per cent) in FY26.
The RBI data highlighted that public-sector banks reported the largest share of frauds in FY26, suffering Rs 35,709 crore in losses, up 51.2 per cent from Rs 23,617 crore in FY25. This was more than four times the Rs 8,092 crore seen in FY24.
Their share of total fraud amounts climbed to 74.5 per cent in FY26, up from 72 per cent in FY25 and 73.5 per cent in FY24.
Public-sector banks reported 5,418 fraud cases in FY26, declining from 6,916 in FY25 and 7,446 in FY24. Private banks reported fraud cases amounting to Rs 11,399 crore in FY26, up 27.7 per cent from Rs 8,927 crore in FY25 and more than four times the Rs 2,667 crore reported in FY24.
Private banks accounted for only 23.7 per cent of the total amount involved in frauds in FY26 though they reported 39.1 per cent of all cases.