Page 15 - Irdai

Irdai to create state insurance plan mirroring SLBCs: Debasish Panda

Aim is to bring down regulations and promote innovation in the sector

'Changes to be made in surety bond offering for making it more lucrative'

Road, transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari on Tuesday said that changes will be made to the surety bond offering to make it more lucrative as no contractor is buying it because of the strict conditions imposed by insurance regulator Irdai. Last year in December, Gadkari launched the country's first-ever surety bond insurance product, with an aim to reduce the dependence on infra developers of bank guarantees. "Don't impose such conditions that nobody is able to take benefit of the scheme...It took 3 years to come out with surety bonds and when it has been finally launched, no contractor is buying it," Gadkari said at an event organised by CareEdge Ratings. The product, from the stable of Bajaj Allianz General Insurance, has been developed in response to a demand identified by the industry and the government. "Changes will be made to surety bond offering to make it more lucrative," he added. The Surety Bond Insurance is a risk transfer tool for the principal and shields th

Irdai to hold open house for insurtech, fintech on 15th of every month

Regulator Irdai will hold an open house for the insurtech and fintech companies on 15th of every month to look at bringing in more innovation ideas for the insurance sector. The open house is intended to invite suggestions from them to provide effective and seamless solutions and ideas to various insurance related activities, which would help insurance companies to provide better services to policyholders, it said. "It is expected that the solutions/ideas would help in increasing the insurance penetration in the country," the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) said in a statement. The open house would be held at the Head Office of Irdai in Hyderabad from 11.00 AM to 1.00 PM on 15th of every month, it said, adding that if 15th happens to be a holiday, the open house will be held on the next working day. Further, the regulator said Irdai's Chairperson (in his/her absence, the senior most Whole-time Member) along with senior officials will be present at th

Irdai forms task force to facilitate ease of doing KYC using Aadhaar

Regulator Irdai has constituted a task force to facilitate ease of doing Know Your Customer (KYC) by insurers using Aadhaar, the 12-digit individual identification number. In a circular, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) said presently, the UIDAI framework allows insurance companies to indentify the customer by using his/her Aadhaar with consent management. "In the absence of the Unique Customer Identification in the insurance sector, insurance companies are facing various issues while providing the services and claims apart from ease of onboarding the customers, circumventing possible frauds, etc," it said. The 12-member task force is being headed by Member (F&I), Irdai. The panel has been asked to suggest measures to ease of onboarding of customers using Aadhaar, and steps for fraud management at underwriting and claims stages. It has also to suggest measures for improving the traceability of customers/beneficiaries to reduce unclaimed amounts .

Irdai relaxes norms for surety bonds to expand market for such products

Regulator Irdai on Tuesday said it has relaxed norms for 'surety bonds', a type of insurance policy protecting parties involved in a transaction or contract from potential financial losses due to a breach of contract or other types of non-performance. The changes are aimed at expanding the surety insurance market by increasing the availability of such products. As per a circular issued by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), the solvency requirement applicable for such products has now been reduced to control the level of 1.5 times from 1.875 times previously prescribed. Further, the prevailing 30 per cent exposure limit applicable on each contract underwritten by an insurer, has also been removed. The regulator had issued 'IRDAI (Surety Insurance Contracts) Guidelines' in January 2022. Irdai said the amendments have been made on the basis of the evaluation of various representations received. The amendments follow the earlier notification removing

IRDAI lowers the solvency requirement for surety bonds to 1.5 times

Removes 30% exposure limit on each contract

Order to stop loan re-payment via credit card good for customers: Insurers

Insurers said it was never in the interest of the customer to repay the loan by borrowing on a credit card and paying much higher interest rates on the outstanding balance on the card

Irdai proposes to tighten norms for media campaigns by insurance cos

Regulator Irdai is proposing to tighten norms for insurance advertisements by assigning higher responsibility on senior management of insurers in designing and approving media campaigns for product promotion. In this context, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has proposed an amendment in the 2021 regulations on insurance advertisements and disclosure. Under the proposed amendment, each insurer will be required to constitute an advertisement committee comprising at least three members mandatorily from marketing, actuarial and compliance functions of the insurer. "The objective of the amendment is to assign higher responsibility on the senior management while designing and approving the advertisements for the consumption of the customers," said the exposure draft on which Irdai has invited comments from the stakeholders by May 25. The committee will be required to report to the product management committee, the draft said. It further said the produc

Irdai proposes guidelines for remuneration of core team of private insurers

Insurance sector regulator Irdai on Wednesday proposed a revised guidelines for remuneration for non-executive directors and persons in key managerial positions of private insurers to ensure alignment of compensation with prudent risk management. In an exposure draft, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) said private sector suggested that insurers should formulate and adopt a comprehensive board-approved remuneration policy covering all the key managerial persons. "The policy should be formulated such that the performance based variable remuneration shall not encourage key managerial persons to take inappropriate or excessive risks," it said. The existing guidelines which came into effect from October, 2016 are the framework for remuneration of non-executive directors and CEO/WTD/MD of private insurers. The guidelines have been in force for over 6 years and based on the experience of implementation, Irdai has proposed to "bring remuneration of other k

Irdai asks insurance cos to lay down social media guidelines for employees

Regulator Irdai has asked insurance companies to lay down social media guidelines for their employees to ensure that no unverified or confidential information relating to the organisation is disseminated to the public through these platforms. An organisation's reputation is closely linked to the behaviour of its employees, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) said, adding "Social media should be used in a way that adds value to the organisation's business". The Information and Cyber Security Guidelines, which were issued by Irdai to all insurers, have a specific section on 'Acceptable usage of social media' -- which states that the employees should be refrained from disseminating any unverified and confidential information on "any Blogs/Chat forums/Discussion forums/Messenger sites/Social networking sites". "Any information received, accessed or obtained by an employee, either in his/her official mail/personal mail/Media Forums or in any other manner,

Tax trouble: GST authorities quiz auto dealers on fake invoicing

Certain automobile dealers appointed by insurers/insurance intermediaries allegedly billed commission in excess of Irdai cap

Irdai's recent reforms will help expand the market

The unique capacity of the insurance industry to engender resilience and self-sufficiency, by underwriting risks and spurring the capital markets provides the foundation for the nation's progress

Irdai looking at 20 more insurance applications: Chairman Debasish Panda

Insurance regulator Irdai has given licence to a General insurer for the first time since 2017, close on the heels of allowing two more applicants in the Life space and is looking at around 20 more applications, its Chairman Debasish Panda said on Wednesday. The latest to get the licence is Kshema General Insurance and earlier in the year Credit Access Life and Acko Life were given licences, Panda said, adding the regulator is looking at around 20 more applications. The Life licence was last given in 2011, the Chairman told reporters on the sidelines of an industry summit organised by the industry lobby Ficci here. There are 23 life insurers and 33 general players operating in the country now. The industry closed February with an AUM of Rs 59 lakh crore with a premium value of Rs 10 lakh crore, a growth of 16 per cent. Addressing the gathering, the regulator asked the industry to take the "Insurance for All by 2047" mandate not as a slogan but as a call to action and expressed ..

Non-life insurers may have to reduce payouts to adhere to EoM norms

Unlisted life players may rack up a commission war to gain market share

Irdai names LIC, GIC as 'domestic systemically important' insurers

These were the same institutions that were identified as DSII in 2021-22

Irdai grants life insurance registration to Acko & Credit Access Grameen

With the entry of these two firms into the space, the number of life insurance companies in the sector goes up to 25, after remaining stagnant since 2011

Why Irdai's flexible rules are significant for insurance industry

By removing the limit for agents, the regulator has provided insurers greater scope to build their businesses

IRDAI's new rules to affect PSU insurers, legalises actions of pvt players

What was being done in a clandestine manner by the industry players, the the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has legalised the same with the new norms

Insurance companies get more autonomy to decide on commission amount

Regulator wants every insurer to have a written policy for payment of commission

Industry majors welcome Irdai move to remove cap on agent commissions

Insurance regulator has replaced earlier cap on commission payments with overall cap on expenses; move is seen to provide more flexibility to insurers in managing their expenses