Claim: A video tweeted by the Indian National Congress claims that India has lost ₹6.36 lakh crore due to digital payment frauds.
Video tweeted by INC handle
Our examination found the claim to be MISLEADING.
How we examined the claim:
We pulled official data from RBI and Parliamentary records pertaining to fraud categories that typically fall under online/ digital payments.
Card & Internet Banking Frauds (FY2014–15 to FY2024–25*)
| Financial Year | Number of Cases | Amount Involved (Crore) |
| 2014–15 | 845 | 18 |
| 2015–16 | 1191 | 27 |
| 2016–17 | 1372 | 28 |
| 2017–18 | 2058 | 80 |
| 2018–19 | 1866 | 52 |
| 2019-20 | 2677 | 129 |
| 2020-21 | 2545 | 119 |
| 2021-22 | 3596 | 155 |
| 2022-23 | 6699 | 277 |
| 2023-24 | 29082 | 1457 |
| 2024-25 | 13384 | 534 |
| Total | 65315 | 2876 |
Source: Ministry of Finance, “Fraud in UPI transactions (Unstarred Question No. 211),” Lok Sabha Secretariat, Nov. 25, 2024. [Online]. Available: https://eparlib.nic.in/bitstream/123456789/2980698/1/_loksabhaquestions_annex_183_AU211_sk53e3.pdf
UPI-Related Frauds (FY2019–20 to FY2023–24)
Note: Verified UPI fraud data is publicly available only from FY2019–20 onward. For earlier years (2016–2018), detailed fraud records specific to UPI are not reported or disaggregated in official RBI or MoF sources and are thus not included in this analysis.
| Financial Year | UPI Transactions (Cr) | UPI Value (₹Cr) | Fraud Cases (lakh) | Fraud Value (₹ Cr) |
| 2019–20 | 1,252 | 33,88,000 | 0.00344 | 20 |
| 2020–21 | 2,233 | 71,59,000 | 1.95 | 111 |
| 2021–22 | 4,597 | 1,25,95,000 | 4.07 | 242 |
| 2022–23 | 8,375 | 1,39,00,000 | 7.25 | 573 |
| 2023–24 | 13,113 | 2,00,00,000 | 13.42 | 1,087 |
| 2024–25 (Apr–Sep) * | 8,567 | 1,22,05,000 | 6.32 | 485 |
| Total | 38,137 | 6,92,47,000 | 33.01 | 2,518 |
Source: 1. Reserve Bank of India, Annual Report 2023–24. [Online]. Available: https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/AnnualReportPublications.aspx?Id=1237, 2. Ministry of Finance. (2024). Frauds reported in UPI system (Unstarred Question No. 388). Government of India. Retrieved from https://sansad.in/getFile/annex/263/AU388.pdf?source=pqars, 3. Ministry of Finance. (2024). UPI transaction volumes and fraud mitigation measures (Unstarred Question No. 211). Lok Sabha, Government of India. Retrieved from https://sansad.in/getFile/loksabhaquestions/annex/183/AU211_sk53e3.pdf?source=pqals
The total fraud loss across all card and UPI transactions in the last two years is ₹3,563 crore, and for over a decade, it is around ₹5,393 crore. That’s not even 0.85% of the ₹6,36,992 crore claim posted by INC handle.
Conclusion
The ₹6.36 lakh crore figure claimed by the INC in a tweet is not supported by any official data. The tweet doesn’t provide any source for the same. The claim seems to conflate various categories of loan defaults, banking fraud, corporate scams over many years and incorrectly attributes to digital payments. Our investigation found that the total digital payments loss over 10 years is about 5393 crore rupees.
Therefore, the claim is misleading.
Additional Information (NOT part of Fact-Check)
When we look at the data for UPI fraud at the national scale:
FY2023–24:
- Fraud-to-Transaction Ratio = 0.00102%
That means around 10 fraudulent cases per 1 million UPI transactions. - Fraud-to-Value Ratio = 0.0054%
For every ₹1 crore transacted, approximately ₹5,400 was affected by fraud.
FY2024–25 (April to September):
- Fraud-to-Transaction Ratio = 0.00074%
This means only two frauds per 1 million UPI transactions, a significant drop from the previous year. - Fraud-to-Value Ratio = 0.0037%
For every ₹1 crore sent, about ₹3,700 was typically impacted by fraud.
What This Shows:
Despite UPI handling over 13,000 crore transactions in FY2023–24 and accelerating further in FY2024–25, fraud rates have consistently decreased, proving that India’s digital payment infrastructure is scaling securely, not chaotically.
While it’s crucial to recognize that every case of digital fraud is serious and requires a quick response and support, exaggerating the scale of the issue can mislead public perception and potentially undermine confidence in a financial ecosystem that has provided digital access to millions.
In reality, platforms like UPI have become stronger and more secure over time, with fraud rates consistently on the decline, even as transaction volumes reach new heights. India’s digital payment infrastructure isn’t collapsing due to fraud; instead, it’s evolving with resilience, vigilance, and accountability.
