Indian banks, which have long been reeling under escalating pressure of non-performing assets (NPAs), suffered a heavy loss of more than 17,000 crore during last financial year due to fraud, information obtained through Right to Information (RTI) Act has revealed.

According to ET, a total of 62 banks filed 26,598 cases of fraud involving a sum Rs of around 17,284 crore during the FY2012-13. The figure represents a four-fold increase over the previous fiscal.

Available figures suggest that Punjab National Bank (PNB) was the worst hit with a loss of Rs 1,375 crore. Government-run Canara Bank suffered a loss of Rs 1,166 crore, while other public lenders, including SBI and BOI, lost more than Rs 1,000 crore due to fraud in the year under review.

While public lenders lost nearly Rs 16,314 crore, private lenders Rs 970 crore, though private lenders accounted for around 75 per cent of the total number of cases registered during last fiscal year.

In comparison, public and private banks collectively had lost Rs 4,448 crore to frauds during FY2011-12.

In July last year, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had said in a circular, "Incidence of frauds, dacoities, robberies, etc, in banks is a matter of concern . the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been advising them from time to time about the major fraud-prone areas and the safeguards necessary for their prevention."

Since 2009, the Indian Banks Association (IBA), as per a direction by the central bank, has been preparing and circulating a "caution list" of professionals who facilitated the perpetration of fraud into the system. Bu, the four-fold increase in fraud cases last fiscal has showed that such efforts have failed to save banks from soaring incidents of frauds.