What a technical glitch: Rs 820 crores credited to account holders of UCO bank

New Delhi: As much as Rs 820 crore were credited to account holders of UCO Bank in what the lender described as an erroneous transfer and has initiated a process to reverse the same.

The bank has recovered Rs 649 crore or 79 per cent of the amount erroneously credited to some accounts of the bank via Immediate Payment Service (IMPS).

By taking various proactive steps, the bank blocked the recipients' accounts and has been able to recover Rs 649 crore out of Rs 820 crore which is about 79 per cent of the amount, UCO Bank said in a regulatory filing on Thursday.

The state-owned bank is yet to clarify whether this technical glitch was due to human error or a hacking attempt.

It is to be noted that the IMPS platform is operated by National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI). IMPS is a real-time interbank electronic funds transfer system that happens straight without intervention.

The bank has initiated requisite actions to recover the balance amount of Rs 171 crore, it said, adding the matter has also been reported to the law enforcement agencies for necessary action.

During the period from November 10-13, the bank had observed, due to technical issue in IMPS, certain transaction(s) initiated by holders of other banks have resulted in credit to the account holders in our bank without actual receipt of money from these banks.

The bank's shares closed at Rs 39.22 per unit, down 1.53 per cent on the BSE.

UCO Bank has reported a 20 per cent decline in its net profit to Rs 402 crore for the quarter ended September 2023 as compared to Rs 505 crore in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

Total income of the Kolkata-headquartered lender during the July-September period rose to Rs 5,866 crore from Rs 4,965 crore in the year-ago period.

Interest income during Q2 FY24 rose to Rs 5,219 crore as against Rs 4,185 crore.

(Inputs from PTI)