Bank fraud touches unprecedented Rs 71,500 crore in 2018-19: Reserve Bank
New Delhi: Over 6,800 cases of bank fraud involving an unprecedented Rs 71,500 crore have been reported in 2018-19, the Reserve Bank of India has said.
A total of 5,916 such cases were reported by banks in 2017-18 involving Rs 41,167.03 crore, it said.
As many as 6,801 cases of fraud were reported by scheduled commercial banks and select financial institutions involving an amount of Rs 71,542.93 crore in the last fiscal (increase of over 73 per cent in the fraud amount), the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) said in reply to an RTI query filed by this PTI journalist.
In the last 11 fiscal years, a total of 53,334 cases of fraud were reported by banks involving a massive amount of Rs 2.05 lakh crore, the central bank's data said.
During 2008-09, a total of 4,372 cases were reported involving an amount of Rs 1,860.09 crore. In 2009-10, Rs 1,998.94 crore worth fraud was reported in 4,669 cases.
A total of 4,534 and 4,093 such cases were reported in 2010-11 and 2011-12 involving Rs 3,815.76 crore and Rs 4,501.15 crore, respectively.
In the 2012-13 fiscal, 4,235 fraud cases involving Rs 8,590.86 crore were reported by banks as against 4,306 cases (involving Rs 10,170.81 crore) in 2013-14 and 4,639 cases (involving Rs 19,455.07 crore) in 2014-15, the RBI said.
As many as 4,693 and 5,076 cases of fraud were reported in 2015-16 and 2016-17 involving Rs 18,698.82 crore and Rs 23,933.85 crore, respectively, it said.
"Cases of fraud reported to RBI are required to be filed by banks as criminal complaints with law enforcement agencies. The information in respect of action being taken or already taken is not available readily," the central bank said.
The data assumes significance as banks are grappling with high-profile fraud cases involving absconding billionaire Nirav Modi and liquor baron Vijay Mallya among others.
The large-scale fraud had prompted anti-corruption watchdog Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) to do an analysis and it came out with a report on top 100 frauds.
The analysis focussed on the modus operandi, amount involved, type of lending (consortium or individual), anomalies observed, loopholes that facilitated perpetration of the fraud concerned and the systemic improvement required to plug the gaps in the system and procedures.
The frauds were classified and analysed for 13 sectors, including gem and jewellery, manufacturing and industry, agriculture, media, aviation, service and project, discounting of cheques, trading, information technology, export business, fixed deposits, demand loan and letter of comfort.
The measures suggested by the CVC included strengthening standard operating procedures (SOPs) and the monitoring system, among others.
The CBI in 2018 booked top officials of two public sector banks, a former CMD of IDBI Bank, former Aircel promoter C Sivasankaran, his son and companies controlled by him in connection with a Rs 600-crore loan fraud in the IDBI.
The investigative agency named 15 bank officials who worked at senior levels at the IDBI in 2010 and 2014 when loans were sanctioned to companies controlled by Sivasankaran, in its FIR registered on a complaint from the CVC.
Managing Director and CEO of Indian Bank, Kishor Kharat (who was then MD and CEO of IDBI Bank) and his counterpart in Syndicate Bank, Melwyn Rego (then deputy managing director in IDBI Bank) along with then Chairman-cum-Managing Director of IDBI Bank M S Raghavan, have been named in the latest FIR filed by the CBI.
Central agencies like the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and Enforcement Directorate (ED) are also probing big-ticket bank fraud cases.
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Ensure paid holiday for postal staff on polling day in Kerala: John Brittas writes to Scindia
New Delhi (PTI): CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas on Sunday wrote to Union Minister of Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia, seeking his urgent intervention to ensure that postal employees in Kerala are granted a statutory paid holiday on April 9 for the Assembly elections in the southern state.
In his letter, Brittas expressed serious concern over the Kerala Postal Circle’s instructions to treat all postal employees as “absentee voters in essential services (AVES)”, directing them to opt for a postal ballot within an “extremely limited” timeframe.
The Department of Posts operates under the Ministry of Communications. Along with the Department of Telecommunications, it is one of the two main sections within the ministry headed by Scindia.
In his letter, Brittas pointed out that the circular dated March 19 required the collection of Form 12D by March 20 (Eid al-Fitr), and submission of the compiled details at the respective collectorates by March 22 (Sunday), both holidays in Kerala, making meaningful compliance difficult and raising apprehensions about the “arbitrary” nature of the directions.
The CPI(M) leader also pointed out that the Election Commission, in a communication dated March 16, reiterated the requirement under Section 135B of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, that every person employed in any establishment and entitled to vote shall be granted a paid holiday on the polling day, without any deduction or abatement of wages.
He said even where certain services are treated as essential, the long-standing administrative practice has been to maintain only minimal required operations on polling day, without denying employees the opportunity to vote in person.
Brittas argued that in some other states going to polls this month, including Assam, most postal employees have been granted a holiday on polling day, in accordance with the statutory provisions.
During the 2021 Kerala polls, postal establishments had observed a holiday on polling day, subject only to limited essential arrangements, he claimed.
The present deviation, Brittas said, raises concerns about inconsistency in the application of law and the avoidable curtailment of the democratic rights of employees.
Stating that the right to vote lies at the core of India's democratic framework, Brittas urged Scindia to examine the matter urgently.
“Given the proximity of the polling date, I earnestly seek your kind indulgence to have the matter examined on priority, and to issue urgent directions to the postal authorities in Kerala to ensure that the statutory entitlement of postal employees in Kerala to a paid holiday on the day of polling is duly ensured,” Brittas said in the letter.
The 140 seats in the Kerala Assembly will go to polls on April 9, and the results will be out on May 4.
