NEW DELHI: India witnessed a 2.5-fold increase in vehicle thefts in 2023 as compared to the year 2022, Acko Digital Insurance's ‘Theft & the City 2024’ report revealed.

Surprisingly, the nation's capital topped the charts with almost 80 percent of car thefts occurring in New Delhi.
“New Delhi continues to be the reigning city for vehicle thefts, with 80% of car thefts in India happening in New Delhi," stated the report.
The report stated that India's capital city saw a vehicle theft every 14 minutes, bringing about 105 cases each day in 2023.

However, it asserted that there was an improvement with the percentage of cases in Delhi plummeting from 56 percent in 2022 to 37 percent in 2023.

The report stated, “The capital continues to be the hub for vehicle theft in India, with 105 cases of vehicle theft reported every single day in 2023. To put that into perspective a vehicle is stolen every 14 minutes in the capital. However, its overall share of vehicle thefts in comparison to other cities in India has come down from 56 percent to 37 percent.”

The second on the list is Chennai which recorded a sharp rise in the number of incidents in 2023.
“Chennai on the other hand, has seen a sharp spike, with vehicle thefts doubling from 5% in 2022 to 10.5% in 2023,” said the report.

Bengaluru, which had grabbed the second spot on the charts in 2022, is third on the list. However, in 2023, the city did record a spike at 10.2 percent compared to 9 percent in 2022.
“Bengaluru comes a close third at 10.2%, a marginal increase from 9% in 2022,” added the report.
The Indian cities that recorded the lowest number of thefts as per the report were Kolkata, Hyderabad and Mumbai.