Insurers may meet Irda on Tuesday on IPO norms

The insurance regulator Irda is likely to meet on Tuesday the heads of insurance companies to discuss issues related to the proposed initial public offer (IPO) guidelines.

"There could be some discussions on the IPO guidelines on the July 20 informal meeting with Irda chairman," Life Insurance Council general secretary SB Mathur told PTI.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee will be going to Hyderabad on the occasion of opening of the Irda grievance redressal cell. The chiefs of both life and non-life companies will be coming and there will be some discussions, he said.

Last week, Irda chairman J Harinarayan had said, "We are expecting the (IPO) guidelines shortly. We have given our observations. The matter is currently with the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi)."

He had said the valuation norms for the companies have been finalised in consultation with the Institute of Actuaries.

As per the present regulation, insurer can come out with IPO after completion of 10 years of operation. The companies now want it to be relaxed so that this capital intensive sector can tap primary market to meet fund requirements.

There are 46 insurance companies operating in the country including 23 life insurers.

The Grievance Redressal Cell of the IRDA would look into the relevant and valid complaints lodged by policyholders. The complaints against life and non-life (general) insurance companies are handled separately. The Grievance Redressal Cell plays a facilitative role by taking up complaints or customer grievances with the respective insurers.

At the same time, the meeting could also deliberate on third party premium rate, which is uniform across the sector.

"We will discuss the issue of Third Party Premium Rates. The rates, at present, are under tariff and all the companies have asked for a revision. We will be talking to the IRDA chairman on that," said New Indian Assurance Chairman and Managing Director M Ramadoss.
    
In the last few years, third party claims have gone up significantly resulting in losses under motor insurance segment. As the third party premium is fixed, insurers are asking for increasing it to mitigate their losses.
    
On the issue of delisting of a few major hospitals from cashless mediclaim facility, Ramadoss said, "If there is any issue raised, we will answer that."
    
From July 1, public sector general insurers delisted about 150 hospitals from the list of Preferred Provider Network (PPN) that provide cashless hospitalisation services to policy holders under the mediclaim scheme.
    
The four insurance companies -- New India Assurance, United India Insurance, National Insurance and Oriental Insurance -- stopped providing cashless facility in select hospitals.