IRDAI has directed general and standalone health insurers to offer specific health cover for persons with disabilities (PWD) as well as those with HIV/AIDS and mental illness. IRDAI has advised the insurance companies to mandatorily launch the product after having a board-approved underwriting policy towards ensuring that no proposal from such persons is denied on account of their disabilities or illness.
The policy tenure will be for one year and renewable as per regulatory framework in place. The pricing of the product can be determined by the insurers as per norms laid down in IRDAI (Health Insurance) Regulations, 2016.
IRDAI has also issued new guidelines for general insurers fixing obligations concerning Motor third-party insurance. In a circular, IRDAI said that every general insurer should “underwrite such minimum percentage of insurance business in third party risks of motor vehicles,” as specified under Section 32D of the Insurance Act, 1938, after the commencement of the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Act, 2015. In addition, regarding co-insurance arrangement as part of the risk-sharing program, it has been clarified that “inward co-insurance” will not be considered for “reckoning compliance” to the referred rules.
According to the IRDAI Chairman Debasish Panda, India is moving towards personalised and instant insurance, with the use of modern technologies including ChatGPT, web 3.0 and public blockchain. He reiterated that the world is also becoming more and more digital with India being a pioneer in tech and digital. India stack, UPI, Aadhar, and the account aggregator, all put together are a base for financial services. What used to take days, is now being done in seconds.
Recently, InsuranceDekho raised $150 million in a Series A round funding, insurtech unicorn Acko too is in the process of raising around $100 million in an upcoming round and Digit heading for an IPO. Insurance Sector startups are having a good time and hopefully they will help to strengthen the insurance sector.
Recently Mr. Syed Moinuddin Ahmed, Additional Managing Director, Green Delta Insurance Company Limited, Bangladesh has joined as honorary Editorial Advisory Board member of The Insurance Times. We hope our journal will be further enriched with his valuable inputs and suggestions.
