Welcome relief for life insurers and policyholders. There was a time when only the Life Insurance Council, the industry body representing life insurers, was the sole agency dealing with regulatory knots and consumer issues. In a week’s time, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) will set up product-specific committees which will complement the Life Insurance Council.
IRDA’s new committees will deal with unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips), variable insurance and traditional plans, and communicate with the parent as well as the Life Insurance Council to resolve industry issues fast.
IRDA will formulate future guidelines and regulations in consultation with each committee that may comprise 56 members, including CEOs, actuaries and product heads of various life insurers.
All these years, there have been differences between IRDA and industry on various guidelines and regulations. This resulted in delay in finalising guidelines, creating hassles and operational difficulties for insurers. Now, IRDA’s committees will look into such aspects,†said a senior official at a life insurer.
The development will help the industry to identify standard products proposed by the government, said G N Agarwal, chief actuary at Future Generali Life.
The Life Insurance Council is trying to give representation to all life insurers by including one person in each committee, Agarwal said.
