FIU-IND issues non-compliance notices to 15 offshore virtual digital asset service providers under the PMLA
On 9 September 2026, the Financial Intelligence Unit-India issued notices to 15 Virtual Digital Asset Service Providers under Section 13 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, and sought takedown of their apps and URLs.
Summary
The Financial Intelligence Unit-India (FIU-IND) issued non-compliance notices on 9 September 2026 to 15 Virtual Digital Asset Service Providers (VDA SPs), including Weex, Blofin, Bitunix, DigiFinex, XT.com, Pionex, ChangeNow and WhiteBIT, under Section 13 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 (PMLA). Acting as nodal officer under Section 79(3)(b) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, the FIU-IND Director also issued notices to take down their apps and URLs for operating illegally in India without complying with the PMLA. VDA SPs were brought under India's anti-money laundering and counter-terror financing framework under the PMLA in March 2023.
Key facts
- Action
- Notices to 15 VDA service providers — 9 Sep 2026
- Law
- Section 13, PMLA 2002
- Takedown
- Under Section 79(3)(b), IT Act 2000
- Examples
- Weex, Blofin, Bitunix, DigiFinex, XT.com, Pionex, WhiteBIT
- Background
- VDA SPs under AML/CFT framework since March 2023
Practice MCQs 3 questions
Under which section of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002 did FIU-IND issue notices to 15 VDA service providers on 9 September 2026?
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Correct answer: D — Section 13
The notices were issued under Section 13 of the PMLA.
Since when have Virtual Digital Asset Service Providers been covered by India's AML/CFT framework under the PMLA?
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Correct answer: B — March 2023
VDA SPs were brought under the AML/CFT framework of the PMLA in March 2023.
Consider the following about FIU-IND's action of 9 September 2026 against VDA service providers: 1. FIU-IND also sought takedown of their apps and URLs as nodal officer under Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act, 2000. 2. Notices were issued to 25 entities. Which of the above is/are correct?
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Correct answer: A — 1 only
Only statement 1 is correct. The FIU-IND Director issued takedown notices under Section 79(3)(b) of the IT Act; notices went to 15 entities, not 25.