Have The Number of Frauds Risen In The Recent Times?

India’s economy is slowing down. That’s the statement of some. In fact, that’s the belief of some. Here’s another view. India’s economy is absolutely fine and there’s nothing really wrong with it. That’s also the view of some and truth be told, an unshakable belief. Well, as they say, at the end of the day- it is a democracy. So everybody has a view. Everybody has a point. Whose point then at the end of the day, is right and holds more relevance or strength- you and I don’t know.

But here is what is known, can be confirmed and cannot be denied, because there is hardly a space to debate or counter a point when there are numbers.

But first up, here’s some common information. And this is already in the public domain. It appears that while the economy has been jostling with the change, the good and bad of growth, and lack of it, it appears that there has been an increase in the number of frauds in India.

So now one wonders how tormenting has been this increase in the number of frauds in India, a country that may still have its work cut out in reducing corruption and adhering to the law?

The numbers from the Reserve Bank of India (or the RBI) are already here. And it may not exactly produce a wide-eyed smile to note that the total amount involved in frauds in Indian banks stood at around INR 71, 453 crores during 2018-19.

But back in 2017-18, exactly a year back, the amount involved in frauds was valued at INR 41,168 crores.

If that doesn’t tell a picture of the sheer increase in the number of frauds in India, then one wonders, what will ever suffice?

This tremendous jump, that has transpired in a single year is around INR 30285 crores. Big? Huge? Unbelievable- what have we! We can run all day and figure out the right adjectives that could perhaps indicate the blaring problem that’s in front of us and yet, it would prove to be a fruitless exercise.

That’s because nothing else matters other than saying that India does have a very visible problem that’s right in front of the naked eye. It’s just that any amount of overlooking from it may never succeed in casting doubt over the real picture.

In that regard what’s important to know that no other sector has been able to indicate the true standing of the damage, caused by the increase in the number of frauds in India, other than the banks, or to put it succinctly, the banking sector.

The cumulative damage caused by the rise in the number of frauds is a menace in its own right. And the overall damage caused by these lies well beyond the scope of the immediate hurt caused in the case of the immediate losses or the immediate victims.

The Bank fraud at the Punjab and Maharashtra Co-operative Bank (PMC), for instance, may have triggered the deaths of nine depositors. Taken together, bank frauds such as the one at PMC have grown steadily over the past decade, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). 

A collective toll on the economy, as caused by the increase in the number of frauds in India also cuts a pretty clear picture of the workings of the PSBs or the Public Sector Banks. The malpractices at these public sector banks have actually contributed 90% to the fraud value.

Moreover, the recent studies- as published in a report on LiveMint- also suggest a bleak picture. It appears that the bank frauds taking place at the PSBs have only worsened in the last financial year.