The Financial Intelligence Unit – India (FIU-IND) is an institution and the central national agency established by the Government of India to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism. It was set up via an Office Memorandum dated November 18, 2004, consequent to the enactment of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). The agency was created to solve the problem of generating actionable financial intelligence from suspect transactions.
FIU-IND operates by acting as the central reception point for mandatory reports from various "reporting entities". Key reports include Cash Transaction Reports (CTRs), Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs), and Cross Border Wire Transfer Reports (CBWTRs). The agency analyzes this data to uncover patterns suggesting money laundering and then disseminates the intelligence to national law enforcement and intelligence agencies. The Director, FIU-IND, is empowered to take punitive action for PMLA violations, issuing compliance notices under Section 13 of the Act.
The institution reports directly to the Economic Intelligence Council (EIC), which is headed by the Finance Minister. It is intrinsically linked to the PMLA, 2002, and coordinates global efforts against financial crime by sharing information with foreign Financial Intelligence Units.
A significant recent change occurred in March 2023, when the Ministry of Finance brought Virtual Digital Asset Service Providers (VDA SPs) within the PMLA's ambit, mandating their registration with FIU-IND as reporting entities. This amendment expanded the scope of the PMLA, but the core mechanism of receiving, analyzing, and disseminating financial intelligence has stayed the same. FIU-IND has since issued notices and takedown directions under the Information Technology Act, 2000 against non-compliant offshore VDA SPs.