Irda looks at options to stop discounts in group insurance premium

The regulator would also soon come up with a hospital registry

The insurance regulator in the country is looking at options to curb the discount offers provided by the insurance firms to group insurance customers, which is increasing the burden of the individual customer.

The regulator is also planning to come out with a hospital registry soon, to monitor the health insurance claims, said T S Vijayan, chairman of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).

The authority would look at various aspects of the issue and will also seek data from the General Insurance Council (GI Council), which represents the collective interests of the Non-life Insurance companies in the country, to come out with possible measures to curb the discounting.

"If the insurance companies are charging low premium from group customers and higher premium from individual customers, the group customers are getting subsidised premium. We want to stop this," said Vijayan. He was speaking to the reporters in the sidelines of launch of modified diabetes health insurance policy of Star Health and Allied Insurance Company, in Chennai.

Insurance companies are the trustee of the premium money collected from the customers and give back it as and when need arises, he added.

He also said that the regulator has come across some reports that some of the healthcare service providers are indulging in fraudulent activities on health insurance claims and would launch a hospital registry within a few months, to avoid this. The registry, with around 30,000 hospitals in it, would help the regulator to monitor the cost of treatment among the peers.

Commenting on the plans to increase the premium of third party motor insurance, he added that the IRDA would soon finalise the quantum of increase.