UCO Bank Recovers 86% Of Mistakenly Credited IMPS Funds
UCO Bank has recovered Rs 705.31 crore out of the Rs 820 crore erroneously credited to multiple accounts by 7 December, as per Union Minister of State for Finance, Bhagwat Karad's statement on Monday.
The unexpected transfer of funds to 41,000 UCO Bank accounts stemmed from a technical glitch in the bank's IMPS payment channel, the bank revealed. IMPS, the Interbank Mobile or Immediate Payment System, offers a 24/7 instant domestic fund transfer service accessible through various banking platforms.
On 15 November, UCO Bank filed an FIR with the Central Bureau of Investigation against two support engineers and other unidentified individuals. Subsequently, the CBI conducted searches across 13 locations in West Bengal and Karnataka on 5 December in connection with the case, recovering electronic evidence like mobile phones, laptops and email archives.
The Union Ministry of Finance convened a meeting on 28 November to assess financial institutions' readiness in dealing with cyber security challenges in the financial services sector, Karad stated in response to a Lok Sabha query.
Highlighting the importance of a focused approach to combat cyber-attacks and digital payment frauds, Karad emphasised the need for stringent measures.
To facilitate prompt reporting of financial frauds, the government established the Citizen Financial Cyber Fraud Reporting and Management System. Karad reported savings exceeding Rs 1,000 crore in over 4 lakh incidents reported until 4 December 2023.
