Auditing regulator Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAI) has suggested that private sector banks should get their branch accounts audited by an RBI-approved panel in line with PSU banks.

"It will bring in efficiency as computer data does not always give a true picture and human intervention is necessary to check fraud," ICAI president G Ramaswamy said.

Earlier this year, ICAI had cautioned RBI against "over-reliance" on a centralised audit system for banks that have completed computerisation of their operations in view of incidents of fraud.

Currently, the statutory auditors of private sector banks conduct branch audits , but it is not mandatory.