No reduction in consumer market frauds despite regulatory changes: KPMG

The majority of the respondents feel that there has been no reduction in frauds despite multiple regulatory changes in India, a KPMG survey said on Thursday.

KPMG in India conducted a survey with more than 75 experts from the finance/ compliance domain in various organisations in the consumer markets sector (FMCG, consumer durables, agriculture, retail and e-commerce), covering questions about frauds and leakages faced by them.

As many as 79 per cent of the survey respondents said there has been no reduction in frauds despite regulatory changes, and only 21 per cent responded by saying that frauds have been reduced due to the changes.

As per the survey, procurement, sales and distribution and e-commerce were voted as the major areas prone to fraud.
 

About 72 per cent of the respondents cited reputational damage as the most severe impact of fraud, whereas 16 per cent believed that financial losses would also impact organisations.

Around 61 per cent of the respondents believed that implementing a tech-based early warning signal mechanism is the most effective measure for detecting and mitigating fraud, as per the survey.

KPMG in India, Partner Forensic Services, Mustafa Surka said the consumer markets sector is rapidly transforming and growing. Consequently, the frauds in the sector are also evolving, leading to substantial leakages for organisations.

"It is imperative for organisations to be agile and mitigate these leakages in a timely manner by investing in technology and developing a strong monitoring mechanism," Surka noted.