New Delhi- India has recorded digital payment frauds worth Rs 805 crore through the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), involving 10.64 lakh incidents, up to November in the current fiscal year (FY26), Parliament was informed on Monday. The rise reflects growing adoption of UPI across the country.
Union Minister of State for Finance Pankaj Chaudhary told the Lok Sabha that UPI-related frauds stood at Rs 981 crore in FY 2024–25, involving 12.64 lakh incidents. In FY 2023–24, such frauds resulted in losses of Rs 1,087 crore across 13.42 lakh cases.
“With the increasing volume of digital payment transactions in the country, instances of fraudulent practices, including digital payment and UPI frauds, have risen over the past few years,” the minister said.
Earlier, UPI fraud losses were reported at Rs 573 crore in FY 2022–23, compared to Rs 242 crore in FY 2021–22.
To curb payment-related frauds, including those linked to UPI transactions, the government, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), and the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) have implemented several preventive measures. These include device binding between a customer’s mobile number and device, two-factor authentication through UPI PINs, daily transaction limits, and restrictions on specific use cases.
Additionally, NPCI provides banks with a fraud monitoring system that uses AI and machine learning models to generate alerts and decline suspicious transactions. The RBI and banks are also running awareness campaigns through SMS alerts, radio programmes, and public outreach initiatives focused on cybercrime prevention.
To help citizens report cyber incidents, including financial fraud, the Ministry of Home Affairs has launched the National Cybercrime Reporting Portal (www.cybercrime.gov.in) and the National Cybercrime Helpline number 1930. The Department of Telecommunications has also introduced the Digital Intelligence Platform (DIP) and the ‘Chakshu’ facility, enabling users to report suspected fraudulent calls, SMS messages, or WhatsApp communications.
Meanwhile, UPI transactions continue to grow rapidly. According to NPCI data, UPI recorded a 32 per cent year-on-year increase in transaction volume at 20.47 billion transactions in November, while the transaction value rose 22 per cent annually to Rs 26.32 lakh crore.
With inputs from IANS