Urban Co-operative Banks (UCBs) have reported nearly 1,000 cases of fraud that amount to more than ₹220 crore in the last five fiscals, according to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). Responding to an RTI query, the central bank said a total of 181 fraud cases, involving ₹127.7 crore, were noticed during 2018-19.

A total of 99 and 27 such cases, involving ₹46.9 crore and ₹9.3 crore, were reported during 2017-18 and 2016-17, respectively, it said. As many as 187 cases of fraud, involving ₹17.3 crore, were reported in 2015-16, against 478 such cases involving ₹19.8 crore during 2014-15, the RBI said.

During 2014-15 and 2018-19, a total of 972 cases of bank frauds worth ₹221 crore were reported by UCBs, it said. “Cases of frauds reported to the RBI are required to be filed by banks as criminal complaints with law enforcement agencies. Banks are required to look into aspects of staff accountability and punish the guilty through internal proceedings,” the central bank said.

It declined to share the details of action being taken on these cases, saying “it is not readily available”.

“The information in respect of action being taken or already taken is not available readily for providing to the applicant,” the RBI said in reply to the RTI application filed by PTI.

The cases assume significance with PMC Bank comingunder the RBI’s restrictions since September 23 after the central bank found financial irregularities, including huge under-reporting of loans and NPAs to real estate developer HDIL to the tune of ₹6,500 crore, against its entire assets of ₹8,880 crore, using hundreds of dummy accounts.

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