Finance Ministry Reports Over 95,000 UPI-Related Fraud Cases in the Previous Year

The use of the unified payment interface (UPI) has seen enormous growth, with daily transactions through the system crossing 36 crore in India, up from 24 crore in February 2022, according to Reserve Bank of India governor Shaktikanta Das. However, the rise in payments has corresponded with an increase in UPI-related fraud. The union finance ministry recorded more than 95,000 fraud cases of UPI transactions in the country in 2022-23, compared to 84,000 cases in 2021-22 and 77,000 cases in 2020-21. These figures were revealed when Rajya Sabha MP Kartikeya Sharma asked a question about increasing cases of digital payment fraud in the country.
National Payments Corporation of India data indicates that users completed over INR125 crore ($1.52m) worth of UPI transactions last year.

UPI Grievance Portal
Dr Bhagwat Karad, minister of state for finance, said the government established a national cybercrime reporting portal for users to register complaints regarding UPI fraud cases. “UPI applications provide an in-app intimation of a user initiating payment to an unknown beneficiary, the device-binding concept, wherein a user’s mobile number is bound with his mobile device, which makes it nearly impossible for anyone to interject,” said Karad.
UPI popularity in India
Since its launch, UPI has become extremely popular in India and its popularity has spread to other countries. Last month, Union Minister Communications and Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw said that India has signed memorandums of understanding with 13 countries that want to adopt the UPI interface. Singapore, the UAE, Mauritius, Nepal and Bhutan have already done so, allowing Indians to make payments in these countries via UPI. A report by the Times of India recently found that in Gujarat, 70% of complaints about online financial scams in the past year related to UPI fraud.