One glitch cost MobiKwik Rs 40 crore; FIR filed in Gurugram, 2,000 merchant accounts frozen

A few days after disclosing a financial fraud of about Rs 40 crore, listed fintech company MobiKwik has clarified that the mishap was caused by a “limited internal processing error” rather than a cybersecurity breach.

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The error, which occurred between September 11 and 12, led to some failed transactions being incorrectly marked as successful, triggering unauthorised payouts to merchants concentrated in Haryana’s Nuh district. According to the company, a group of merchants and users colluded to exploit the glitch and claim unfair settlements.

MobiKwik said the issue was identified and resolved within 45 minutes. It filed a FIR with Gurugram police and began recovery efforts. As part of risk control, MobiKwik froze around 2,000 merchant accounts linked to the fraud, while police separately froze about 2,500 beneficiary bank accounts where the disputed settlements were credited. Law enforcement has arrested six individuals in the case.

“Based on preliminary data, as a risk mitigating measure, the FIR was lodged for an amount of Rs 40 crore, out of which the company has recovered around Rs 14 crore. Thus, the estimated net impact is Rs 26 crore,” the filing stated. Authorities have also imposed debit freezes and lien marks on bank accounts where the disputed settlements were credited.

The company stressed that the incident did not affect UPI or wallet transactions, customer balances, or banks and financial institutions. It reiterated that no employee, key managerial personnel, or insider was involved.

This is not the first instance of fraud at MobiKwik. In March, the company reported that a former employee siphoned off Rs 1.26 crore between August 2023 and September 2024 by altering merchant details in records.

MobiKwik, which offers UPI payments, credit cards, instant loans, payment gateways, and POS solutions, is already grappling with weak financial performance. Its revenue fell 20.7% year-on-year to Rs 271.4 crore in Q1 FY26, while its net loss widened sixfold to Rs 41.9 crore.