India's top private and public sector banks increased the amount of loans that were written off in the July-September quarter.

Five of the seven top banks that have declared their quarterly results posted a higher level of write-offs compared with a year earlier, according to analysis of data from 14 banks. The seven banks are HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank, Axis Bank, Union Bank of India, Punjab National Bank, IndusInd Bank and Canara Bank.

Banks write off loans when there is no scope of recovering them from borrowers. Typically, banks need to set aside 100 percent of the written-off loan amount as provisions, which impacts their profitability.