IN A stunning revelation that underlines fragility in India’s banking systems, data furnished by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) under the Right to Information Act has showed over 8.41 lakh cases of bank frauds totalling Rs 5,66,507.77 crore across a 20-year span. The data pertains to frauds reported between year 2004-05 and 2023-24. Recoveries from the cases have been recorded at only Rs 40,968.33 crore. The disclosure came in response to an RTI application filed by Nagpur-based RTI activist Sanjay Thul. The records, in possession of The Hitavada, show significant regulatory gaps and enforcement deficiencies across commercial banking institutions. The RTI information includes detailed year-wise and bank-wise data, spotlighting the five financial years from FY 2020-21 to FY 2024-25 (up to December 2024).

 

It showcases high-value frauds committed across multiple banks, alongside strikingly low recoveries and lack of information on legal action against the fraudsters. RBI’s annexure confirms that “information sought is not available” regarding the number of fraudsters convicted in the past three financial years. Thul, who retired in April 2025 as Assistant Commissioner from the Central GST Department, is a veteran in the field of financial transparency and institutional accountability. His pursuit of disclosures through RTI has earlier led to several high-impact exposures in public finance and taxation systems.

 

He currently serves as President of the Association of Social and RTI Activists (ASRA), a transparency watchdog involved in fiscal scrutiny and public interest litigation. The latest RBI response offers a comprehensive bank-wise breakdown of frauds, reporting years, financial impact, and recoveries, laying bare a persistent pattern of escalating fraud volumes and delayed detection cycles. The data reveals that Axis Bank Limited recorded 6,177 fraud cases in FY 2021-22, which nearly tripled to 18,869 cases by FY 2024-25 (till December). In FY 2024-25 alone, Axis Bank Limited reported Rs 596.15 crore worth of frauds, recovering just Rs 28.14 crore. Likewise, Canara Bank reported Rs 2,906.14 crore in frauds during FY 2021-22 with a recovery of only Rs 8.66 crore while Bank of India clocked Rs 5,772.60 crore in fraud amount that same year, recovering merely Rs 8.52 crore.

 

In FY 2024-25, Bank of India reported another Rs 531.60 crore in frauds, but managed to recover only Rs 6.03 crore. Bank of Baroda showed similarly troubling data, with Rs 3,434.66 crore in reported frauds in FY 2021-22 and Rs 674.09 crore in FY 2024-25 against which recoveries stood at just Rs 9.66 crore and Rs 4.17 crore respectively. Punjab National Bank also featured prominently in the high-exposure list, with its cumulative figures reflecting concerning trends over the five-year span. These figures not only signal operational gaps in fraud detection but point to deficiencies and hurdles in recovery and enforcement. A deep dive into disclosures for major private sector banks also reveals concerning patterns. HDFC Bank Ltd reported Rs 792.39 crore in frauds in FY 2021-22, Rs 565.43 crore in FY 2022-23, and Rs 459.85 crore in FY 2024-25 (till December), cumulatively involving thousands of cases each year. ICICI Bank Limited reported Rs 1,333.60 crore in FY 2021-22, followed by Rs 797.27 crore in FY 2022-23 and Rs 1,050.16 crore in FY 2023-24. Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd’s figures stood at Rs 19.41 crore in FY 2021-22, Rs 16.23 crore in FY 2022-23, and Rs 12.53 crore in FY 2023-24. YES Bank Ltd, too, was not immune, recording Rs 180.23 crore in FY 2021-22 and Rs 123.46 crore by FY 2023-24.

 

Federal Bank Ltd’s reported fraud amount stood at Rs 77.64 crore in FY 2022-23 and Rs 69.39 crore in FY 2024-25, while IndusInd Bank Ltd reported Rs 137.96 crore in FY 2021-22 and Rs 130.78 crore in FY 2023-24. IDFC First Bank Limited reported Rs 52.80 crore in FY 2021-22 and Rs 60.12 crore in FY 2023-24. Despite their tech-savvy profiles and advanced systems, these banks witnessed persistent fraud exposure, raising questions about internal risk frameworks and on-ground vigilance protocols. The figures for small finance banks and payment banks reflected an even steeper trajectory. Airtel Payments Bank Limited, for example, saw just 10 cases in FY 2021-22, which exploded to 19,642 fraud cases in FY 2024-25. AU Small Finance Bank Limited moved from 54 cases in FY 2021-22 to 4,185 cases by FY 2024-25. Equitas Small Finance Bank Limited reported 342 cases in FY 2021-22, jumping to 2,669 cases in FY 2024-25. Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Ltd showed an equally volatile spike with 1,287 cases in FY 2021-22 surging to over 2,000 cases in the subsequent years. The RTI documents include RBI’s clarification that frauds reported in any year may not correspond to the year of occurrence, as banks often report frauds after internal scrutiny, audits or external triggers such as complaints or regulatory inspections.