Finance Ministry refutes INC’s digital fraud allegations, terms them ‘deliberate misinformation’

The central government has dismissed the Indian National Congress’ recent social media claims regarding digital banking frauds as “misleading”, “factually incorrect”, and a clear attempt to stoke public fear through data distortion, sources told Zee Business. 

On June 1, the Congress party posted on X (formerly Twitter), alleging that the Centre has failed to protect citizens from rising digital payment frauds. The party claimed Indians had lost Rs 6.36 lakh crore due to digital banking scams—an assertion government officials now say is based on conflated and misrepresented figures.

Digital frauds far lower than claimed

Responding to the post, officials cited data sourced from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Ministry of Finance to clarify that digital frauds account for only a fraction of the total banking frauds. Between FY 2014–15 and December 2024, cases of fraud specifically under “Card / Internet and Digital Payments” involving amounts over Rs 1 lakh stood at 63,315, with a cumulative loss of Rs 733.26 crore.

“The figure of Rs 6.36 lakh crore quoted by Congress relates to overall banking frauds across all categories—loans, forex, deposits, and more. Presenting this as digital fraud is either a grave oversight or deliberate misinformation,” said a senior official.

Targeted measures bringing down fraud

Government sources underlined a series of targeted interventions undertaken over the past few years to curb fraud in the rapidly expanding digital payments ecosystem. These include:

• Digital Payment Security Controls (Feb 2021): RBI-mandated baseline security framework for all digital platforms.
• ‘MuleHunter’ AI Tool: Detects suspicious money mule accounts across financial systems.
• RBI Fraud Registry: Enables real-time detection of repeat offenders by maintaining a searchable fraud database.

Thanks to such efforts, fraud amounts involving public sector banks have plummeted—from Rs 21,626 crore in FY 2019–20 to just Rs 232 crore in FY 2024–25 (up to December 2024).

An official added, “We’re in the electronic era, where vigilance must be round the clock. While agencies continue to innovate with AI-based systems, public awareness remains key to containing cyber fraud, especially among elderly and first-time users.”

Political spin vs ground reality

Experts say the Congress post overlooks the granular nature of RBI fraud categorization and misleads by equating all fraud losses with digital scams. The rebuttal suggests a strategic attempt to politicize a complex financial issue during an era of heightened fintech expansion.

Officials also pointed out that the RBI and National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) continue to work closely with banks to ensure real-time fraud tracking, mandatory customer alerts, and instant blocking of suspicious transactions.

In a digital-first economy, the government maintains that creating panic through distorted figures does little to help consumers and only undermines efforts to build a secure, inclusive financial infrastructure.