Police summon Aviva India CEO in discrimination case, firm denies claims

Indian police have summoned Asit Rath, the chief executive of British insurer Aviva in the country, as part of an inquiry into a former employee's accusations of religious discrimination at work, documents seen by Reuters showed.

The investigation, in the northern city of Faridkot in Punjab is the latest headache for the company, which faces scrutiny by tax authorities, who accuse it of making illegal payments to insurance brokers, accusations it has denied.

Saturday's summons, seen by Reuters, asked Rath and another Aviva official to appear before the police in Punjab as part of the inquiry, advising, "It should be considered very important". It was not immediately clear if the executives had done so.

In a statement to Reuters, Aviva denied the discrimination accusations as being "factually incorrect".

The matter stems from a complaint to police by a former employee, Gurbir Singh, a Sikh who accused company executives of subjecting him to discrimination and derogatory comments because of his religion, police records show.

Rath, who is an Indian insurance industry veteran based at Aviva's office in Gurugram near New Delhi, did not respond to a request for comment. Singh, the complainant, said he had appeared before police in the inquiry, but could not comment further while the investigation is underway.

The office of the senior superintendent of police in Faridkot, which is handling the inquiry, did not respond to a request for comment.

Aviva's spokesperson, based in Britain, said Aviva India "strongly denies any discrimination as claimed and has robust policies to ensure fair treatment to all employees".

"Aviva India considers the alleged complaint filed by the ex-employee as factually incorrect, without any merit and is now the subject of legal proceedings so we will not be commenting further," the spokesperson added.

Registration details shows the case was filed under provisions of the law that criminalise insults to anyone's religion with malicious intent, for which offenders may face up to three years in jail.

Police said in the Sept. 14 case registration document that Singh had alleged "persistent and deliberate humiliation".

Aviva India is a joint venture between Aviva Global and Dabur Invest Corp., a prominent domestic firm. Aviva owns 74% of the business, after increasing its stake from 49% in 2022.