Reinsurance regulations to be out by February end: IRDAI chairman Vijayan

The final reinsurance regulations are due by the end of February, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) Chairman T S Vijayan today said.

"The reinsurance regulations are coming by February end," Vijayan, who is retiring in the end of February, told reporters here at FICCI Annual Insurance Summit.

The regulations will define the business in India and the order of preference, he added.

When asked about what regulations are expected, he said life insurance product regulations are in the pipeline but will take some more time.

"Comments are coming in and we have to analyse them and see that it complies with the international standard, which will also suit our country profile. It is going to take some more time," he added.

On foreign companies showing interest in entering the Indian market, the regulator said there are four or five that have applied for licenses and have evinced keen interest on the non-life and health front.

Further, he said, distribution of policies in the times of fast-changing technology will play a key role for growth and any organisation that has access to customer data will have an edge. "Environment changes, like mobile technology, Aadhar among others offer huge opportunities for companies. Insurance industry must be aware about these changes, as this is where the next wave of growth is. A person with large number of customer data will have an edge," he added.

Companies need to find out new distribution channels based on technological developments, he pointed out.

These have to be linked to the customers as technology enables organisations to be in constant touch with customers, to enhance the policies, especially for retail and SME customers, he said.