UPI Fraud Cases Surge in India as Transactions Exceed 36 Crore Daily

The Finance Ministry has reported an increase in UPI (unified payment interface) fraud cases as the number of UPI transactions has grown exponentially. Reserve Bank of India Governor, Shaktikanta Das, recently announced that daily transactions through the UPI system crossed 36 crore, up from 24 crore in February 2022. However, the number of UPI-related fraud cases has also increased. The Finance Ministry revealed that over 95,000 fraud cases related to UPI transactions were recorded in 2022-23, compared to 84,000 cases in 2021-22 and 77,000 cases in 2020-21. In response to a parliamentary question on the rise of digital payment frauds in India, Dr Bhagwat Karad, Minister of State for Finance, stated that the government has launched a national cybercrime reporting portal for UPI fraud cases. UPI has become highly popular in India, and its popularity has spread to other countries, with India having signed MoUs with 13 countries wishing to adopt the UPI interface, Ashwini Vaishnaw, Union Minister of Communications and Electronics & Information Technology, said recently.