UPI-linked frauds amount to Rs 805 crore so far in FY26: Govt
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New Delhi: India has recorded digital payment frauds worth Rs 805 crore through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), involving 10.64 lakh incidents, till November of the current financial year (FY26), Parliament was informed on Monday. The rise has been attributed to the growing adoption of UPI across the country.
Providing details in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary said UPI-related frauds stood at Rs 981 crore in FY 2024–25, involving 12.64 lakh incidents. In FY 2023–24, losses rose further to Rs 1,087 crore, with 13.42 lakh reported cases.
The minister noted that with the rapid expansion of digital payment transactions, instances of fraudulent practices, including UPI-related frauds, have increased over the past few years. In FY 2022–23, UPI frauds amounted to Rs 573 crore, compared to Rs 242 crore in FY 2021–22.
Chaudhary said multiple measures have been implemented by the government, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) to curb payment-related frauds. These include device binding of customers’ mobile numbers, two-factor authentication using PINs, daily transaction limits, and restrictions on specific use cases.
He added that NPCI provides banks with a fraud monitoring system that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning models to generate alerts and block suspicious transactions. The RBI and banks are also running awareness campaigns through SMS alerts, radio messages, and public outreach programmes on cybercrime prevention.
To enable citizens to report cyber incidents, including financial frauds, the Ministry of Home Affairs has launched the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal and the National Cybercrime Helpline number 1930. Additionally, the Department of Telecommunications has introduced the Digital Intelligence Platform and the ‘Chakshu’ facility, allowing users to report suspected fraud calls, messages, or WhatsApp communications.
Meanwhile, UPI transactions continued to grow sharply. According to NPCI data, transaction volumes rose 32 per cent year-on-year to 20.47 billion in November, while transaction value increased 22 per cent annually to Rs 26.32 lakh crore.
With IANS inputs