Corporate Law : IRDAI's Bima Vahak initiative aims to expand insurance reach in rural areas. It introduces a women-centric distribution channel fo...
Corporate Law : Overview of IRDAI's 2024 Corporate Governance Regulations for Insurers, covering board composition, committee structures, KMP appo...
Corporate Law : Learn about Bima-ASBA, IRDAI's new facility for insurance premium payments. This mechanism blocks funds in a prospect's account vi...
Corporate Law : Summarizing IRDAI's 2024 regulations on insurance advertising, this text covers definitions, mandatory disclosures, prohibitions, ...
Corporate Law : Learn about IMF Registration for private limited companies, its process, requirements, and benefits. Expand into insurance marketi...
Corporate Law : IRDAI approved in-principle drafting and publication of new and amended regulations following the Sabka Bima, Sabki Raksha (Amendm...
Corporate Law : IRDAI approved drafting regulations for implementing a Risk Based Capital framework to strengthen solvency assessment and align In...
Corporate Law : IRDAI formed a sub-committee to review private health insurance and improve policyholder experience. The initiative focuses on exp...
Corporate Law : The issue concerns identification of systemically important insurers. The regulator retained the same entities, emphasizing their ...
Corporate Law : IRDAI directs insurers to follow anti-dark pattern guidelines and submit compliance reports. The move strengthens consumer protect...
Corporate Law : Every claim made against an insurance company in respect of a loss, would be a claim within purview of claims “requiring to be p...
Corporate Law : The Supreme Court held recently held in the case of Pushpa @ Leela & Ors. Versus Shakuntala & Ors that the insurance co...
Corporate Law : The Authority found that core survey functions were carried out by unlicensed personnel. It held that such outsourcing violated re...
Corporate Law : The regulator cancelled a surveyor’s licence after finding false records, mismatched filings, and inaccurate disclosures. The ru...
Corporate Law : The case involved submission of a forged diploma for obtaining and renewing a licence. The Authority held that continued reliance ...
Corporate Law : IRDAI delegates Section 34 powers between Whole Time Members and Chairperson. The move aims to streamline enforcement actions and ...
Corporate Law : The notification addressed mandatory reinsurance cession for general insurance policies. It mandates 4% cession to GIC Re, ensurin...
The President of India has promulgated an Ordinance late last evening amending the RBI Act 1934, Insurance Act 1938, SEBI Act 1992 and Securities Contract Regulations Act 1956, thereby clarifying by way of an explanation that Life Insurance business shall include any Unit Linked Insurance Policy or scripts or any such instruments. This would set at rest all the issues regarding ULIPs between two financial regulators i.e. Securities Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Insurance Regulatory Development Authority (IRDA).
In the insurance sector, like in any other financial service sector, keeping the vulnerable public protected from unfair practices is of utmost importance. Unfair practices could arise in a scenario of increasing number of insurers, intermediaries and insurance products and severe competition for business.
Reserve Bank of India Foreign Exchange Department, vide circular No. RBI/2009-10/445 A.P. (DIR Series) Circular No. 49 dated May 04, 2010 has notified change in pricing guidelines of equity shares, compulsorily convertible preference shares and compulsorily convertible debentures (Equity instruments) to be issued / transferred to a resident outside India. The guidelines are applicable to an Indian Company in sectors other than financial sector.
Various queries have been raised by insurers on who can be termed as customer(s) for the purposes of AML guidelines. Keeping the objective of the PMLA and AML guidelines in view, it is hereby clarified that details of the person who funds/pays for an insurance contract, either as beneficial owner or otherwise become relevant and important. Stipulations under clause 3.1 of the AML guidelines will therefore have to be applied to such persons. The term customers also refer to the Proposer/policyholder; Beneficiaries and Assignee for the purposes of AML guidelines.
Attention is drawn to section 31B(2) of the Insurance Act, 1938 by virtue of which “Every insurer shall before the close of the month following every year, submit to the Authority [a statement, in the form specified by the Regulations made by the Authority,] showing the remuneration paid, whether by way of commission or otherwise, to any person in cases where such remuneration exceeds (such sum as may be specified by the regulations made by the Authority.)”
The Finance Minister, Shri Pranab Mukherjee has asked insurance industry to give more focus to generate the required level of awareness about the benefits of insurance to rural people particularly those living in semi-urban and rural areas. They should make all efforts to take the necessary steps to ensure the reach of insurance to general masses.
Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has said unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips) need further reforms on the back of the changes already announced by the insurance regulator. The finance minister also hinted at a resolution to the dispute between Sebi and Irda over Ulip regulation.
The next time you plan to buy an insurance policy through a corporate agent, please check whether the agent is legally authorised to sell the policy or not. This has become necessary because the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has said that 4,261 corporate agents out of 7,000 in the country were not authorised to sell policies from March 31, 2010.
Instances have come to the notice of the Authority that a large number of firms were floated by the same set of individuals under different or similar names to act as Corporate Agents. Some of corporate agents were observed to utilize the services of a large number of people not having requisite Licence/Certificate to solicit or procure the insurance business, and paid remuneration for procuring the insurance business.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) has now proposed to streamline the promotion of insurance products through distance sales channels, such as the telephone and the internet. It has said it will issue rules in this regard and these will cover selling by ‘voice mode’, which includes telephone calls, ‘electronic mode’ (e-mails, internet and interactive television) and also the ‘physical mode’, though postal mail and newspapers.
