As many as 14,007 cases of cyber fraud were recorded in 2021, Parliament was told on Monday.
Citing data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Minister of State for Finance Bhagwat Karad said that “the total number of cyber fraud cases including… frauds committed through online applications is 14,007 in 2021 (latest published data is from 2021).”
RBI issued regulatory guidelines on digital lending on September 2, 2022 with the aim of reaffirming the regulatory framework for digital lending while enhancing customer protection and making the digital lending ecosystem safe and robust, it said in a written response in Lok Sabha.
Between April 1, 2022 and March 31, 2023, there were up to 1,062 complaints related to ‘digital loan applications’ received by the RBI Ombudsman Offices (ORBIO) against RE under the Reserve Bank Ombudsman Integrated Scheme, 2021 (RB-IOS) between April 1, 2022 and March 31, 202 3 said.
This regulatory framework is based on the principle that credit business can only be carried out by entities regulated by it or by entities authorized to do so under any other law, he said.
All Regulated Entities (REs) must comply with such guidelines on digital lending, it said.
Compliance with these guidelines is reviewed on a sample basis during the supervisory assessment and any observed non-compliance is taken for rectification in addition to initiating supervisory/enforcement action, as deemed appropriate.
The RBI Compliance Department has not imposed any monetary sanctions on REs for non-compliance with the digital lending guidelines issued on 9th September 2022.
In response to another question, Karad said that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has notified the “Depositors’ Education and Awareness Fund Scheme, 2014”, which covers the rules related to unclaimed deposits and outlines the details of the fund’s utilization.
As a result of various steps taken to return the unclaimed deposits to their rightful owners/claimants, the total of Rs. Rs 5,729 crore was transferred from the fund to banks for the repayment of unclaimed deposit settlement, in the last five years, he said.
RBI has also launched the ‘100 Days 100 Pays’ campaign for banks to track and settle the top 100 unclaimed deposits of every bank in every district of the country within 100 days from June 1, 2023 to September 8, 2023, it said.
