Aviva's India arm faces $7.5 mn fine for fake invoice scheme

Indian authorities have ordered British insurer Aviva's local unit to pay $7.5 million in back taxes and penalties after an investigation found it created fake invoices to pay illegal commissions and claimed incorrect tax credits, an order shows.

- Reuters

The tax demand is significant for Aviva's India business, which recorded a profit after tax of only $10 million in the 2023-24 financial year. Aviva also faces stiff competition from rivals in India's insurance market.

To grow its business, Aviva India paid about $26 million between 2017 and 2023 to vendors who purportedly provided marketing services, but they were only a front to give Aviva's agents excess commissions beyond regulatory limits, Indian tax authorities alleged in an August 3 notice Reuters reported last year.