Max India Limited has recently informed stock exchanges that the IRDAI has given green signal to the company to sell its entire stake in Max Bupa Health Insurance Company Ltd.
Max India Limited and the UK-based healthcare services expert, Bupa, jointly hold the ownership Max Bupa Health Insurance. The entire stake of Max India in the joint venture is bought by Fettle Tone LLP (an affiliate of True North Fund VI LLP).
The Max Bupa policyholders need not be worried as the IRDAI protects the customers’ interests whenever ownership of a company changes hands. The IRDAI gives no allowance to any arbitrary changes in the product. The IRDAI approval is mandatory before any product change is sought and the regulator asks for justification. After receiving the regulator’s approval, the insurer has to inform all its customers regarding the changes 120 days before the implementation.
Similarly, if a company decides to discontinue a product, the regulation states that the insurer needs to offer the customer another product that has the similar or better features compared to the plan that it wants to terminate.
