The central authorities has dismissed a latest submit by the Indian Nationwide Congress on social media containing claims concerning digital banking frauds, sources advised Zee Enterprise. Terming the submit as “deceptive”, “factually incorrect” and “supposed to create panic”, the sources mentioned that it was a transparent try by the INC to stoke public concern by means of information distortion. On June 1, the Congress occasion took to microblogging website X (previously Twitter) to allege that the Centre has failed to guard residents from rising digital cost frauds, claiming that Indians have misplaced Rs 6.36 lakh crore because of digital banking scams. Strongly rejecting and condemning the INC’s claims, authorities sources mentioned that the claims are based mostly on conflated and misrepresented figures.
The INC is indulging in misrepresentation of information by conflating particular digital cost frauds with the a lot broader class of whole banking frauds, mentioned the official sources.
It’s intentionally inflating figures to mislead residents and provoke concern, with their declare of “lakhs of crores” misplaced particularly to digital fraud being “factually incorrect” and “intentionally distorted”, they added.
“Congress is intentionally inflating figures by together with all classes of banking fraud and mislabeling them as digital fraud,” mentioned a senior authorities official. “Digital cost frauds, generally known as ‘Card/Web’ frauds, type solely a subset of general financial institution frauds and are handled with stringent scrutiny by the RBI, hte NPCI, and enforcement businesses,” famous the official.
Citing information sourced from the RBI and the Ministry of Finance, the official acknowledged that digital frauds account for less than a fraction of the full banking frauds. Between FY15 and December 2024, fraud instances within the nation, particularly beneath the “Card/Web and Digital Funds” class, involving quantities to the tune of Rs 1 lakh, stood at 63,315 with a cumulative lack of Rs 733.3 crore.
“The determine of Rs 6.36 lakh crore quoted by Congress pertains to general banking frauds throughout all classes—loans, foreign exchange, deposits, and extra. Presenting this as digital fraud is both a grave oversight or deliberate misinformation,” mentioned a senior official.
The official sources additionally highlighted a collection of steps undertaken over the previous few years to battle fraud within the nation’s quickly evolving digital funds ecosystem, together with:
- Digital Cost Safety Controls (Feb 2021): An RBI-mandated baseline safety framework for digital platforms
- ‘MuleHunter’ AI Software: This efficient software detects suspicious cash mule accounts throughout monetary techniques
- RBI Fraud Registry: This database permits real-time detection of repeat offenders
On account of these efforts, the quantity of fraud involving PSU banks has come down from Rs 21,626 crore in FY20 to Rs 232 crore in FY25 (until December 2024). The official additionally mentioned: “We’re within the digital period, the place vigilance should be around the clock. Whereas businesses proceed to innovate with AI-based techniques, public consciousness stays key to containing cyber fraud, particularly amongst aged and first-time customers.”
The Congress submit overlooks the granular nature of RBI fraud categorisation and misleads by equating all fraud losses with digital scams, in response to the officers, who added that the rebuttal suggests a strategic try to politicise a fancy monetary subject throughout an period of heightened fintech enlargement. In line with them, the RBI and the Nationwide Funds Company of India (NPCI) proceed to work intently with business lenders to make sure real-time fraud monitoring, necessary buyer alerts and immediate blocking of suspicious transactions.
In a digital-first financial system, the federal government maintains that creating panic by means of distorted figures does little to assist customers and solely undermines efforts to construct a safe, inclusive monetary infrastructure.
Right here are some things identified by the officers, rubbishing the INC’s claims:
- The declare that folks have misplaced Rs 6.36 lakh crore because of digital fraud is deceptive; factual information from official sources tells a really completely different story
- The INC submit begins by flagging considerations in digital banking funds, however then shifts to recommend inflated losses
- It’s seemingly drawing from general banking fraud figures to generate panic
- It is a case of pure fear-mongering, aimed toward undermining public belief within the digital monetary ecosystem and the banking sector
- It’s essential to know the excellence between whole banking fraud and digital cost frauds:
- Whole banking frauds embody a variety of illicit actions:
- Advances (loan-related frauds)
- Deposits
- Off-balance sheet gadgets
- Foreign exchange transactions
- Money dealing with
- Cheques and inter-branch accounts
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- Digital frauds represent only one subset of this broader classification
- ‘Card/Web’ frauds basically confer with digital cost frauds, resembling on-line transactions, credit score/debit card misuse, and so forth.
- To place the precise scale into perspective, business banks and All India Monetary Establishments have reported a complete of 63,315 instances of digital cost frauds beneath the ‘card/web and digital funds’ class (for quantities above Rs 1 lakh) from FY15 to December 2024
- Throughout this era, the full monetary loss from these digital frauds stood at Rs 733.3 crore
- These numbers instantly contradict the INC’s narrative suggesting losses in “lakhs of crores” inside the digital area
- Such large figures, if cited accurately, confer with cumulative fraud losses throughout all banking classes, not digital transactions alone
