Sebi is working with other regulators to expand the CAS framework.
Ask rediffGURU Naveenn Kummar your insurance mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
The committee formed under the Life Insurance Council to review the commission structure in the life insurance sector has recommended capping distributor commissions or deferring them to ease acquisition costs. The recommendations will be sent to the insurance regulator -- Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai).
Insurance intermediaries who receive disproportionately high commissions are likely to see a decline in their payouts, post the new Insurance Amendment Bill. The new Bill gives the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority of India (Irdai) the power to disgorge unlawful gains made by insurers and intermediaries as well as the right to limit commissions paid to intermediaries.
The Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority of India (Irdai) on Wednesday proposed setting up an internal insurance ombudsman for insurance companies -- except reinsurers-- with over three years of operation, to address unresolved complaints. The ombudsman will have power to hear complaints for claims up to Rs 50 lakhs.
The insurance industry is trying to get to grips with provisions in the proposed Insurance Amendment Bill, which gives additional powers to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai), while there is ambiguity in the very definition of the insurance business, according to industry experts.
Ask rediffGURU Reetika Sharma your insurance, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
As the government moves to revamp India's securities legislation, unifying three different laws into the Securities Markets Code (SMC), regulatory experts and market insiders have raised concerns on potential funding challenges for the stock market regulator.
'By quick, fast, and just awards, the insurance ombudsman can bring the trust of the policyholders in the insurance system and insurance as a product and create a positive impact on the entire industry.'
The Union Cabinet on Friday approved 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the insurance sector, a move that was welcomed by industry as it would help attract more capital and global expertise, while boosting insurance coverage in the country. A bill to amend the insurance law is likely to be tabled on Monday in Parliament, whose winter session is slated to conclude on December 19.
The exemption of individual life and health insurance premiums from the Goods and Services Tax (GST) enables the insurance industry to make products affordable and attractive, said Ajay Seth, chairman of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2025.
Following the notification allowing 100 per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the insurance sector, the Finance Ministry has revised norms to remove the requirement that a majority of directors and key management personnel in an insurance company with foreign investment be Indian residents.
Ask rediffGURU Reetika Sharma your insurance, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Ask rediffGURU Naveenn Kummar your insurance mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
'It is imprudent on the part of Indian insurance companies to invest out of the shareholders' fund in a private limited company.'
The government has circulated among members ofParliament a new draft of the Amendment of Insurance laws Bill, 2025, proposing stricter safeguards on the utilisation of life insurance funds and other specified insurance business funds, particularly for dividend payouts, bonuses, and servicing of debentures.
India's market regulator is moving ahead to include real estate investment trusts (Reits) in benchmark indices in a phased manner, Sebi chief Tuhin Kanta Pandey said, while asserting that the regulator was working to strengthen the link between infrastructure building and the markets.
'LIC's investment decisions are taken independently, following strict due diligence, risk assessment and fiduciary compliance.'
Recent years have been turbulent for the insurance industry due to direct and indirect tax reforms, regulatory overhaul and other external pressures. The events cumulatively slowed growth rate to single digits from the high teens seen earlier.
Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Tuesday said that raising the FDI limit to 100 per cent in the insurance sector will help attract more capital, improve competition and increase insurance penetration by making policies more affordable.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has asked at least 10 general and life insurance companies to submit a detailed road map for their listing strategies by the end of this month, according to multiple sources with direct knowledge of the matter. "The regulator met four life and six general insurers last month and asked them to provide their listing strategies by the end of February," said one of the sources.
Ask rediffGURU Reetika Sharma your insurance, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Even as non-life insurers reported muted premium growth in October, standalone health insurers saw a robust 38 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) surge. This growth was driven by pent-up demand in the retail health insurance segment.
Trai has ordered BFSI firms to move service and transaction calls to the 1600 series from 2026 to reduce spam, financial fraud, and rising digital arrest scams.
Ask rediffGURU Reetika Sharma your insurance, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
The reduction in goods & services tax (GST) on individual life and health insurance premiums has been called a "landmark step" for making insurance affordable and inclusive. In a panel discussion at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit 2025, Anup Bagchi, managing director (MD) & chief executive officer (CEO) of ICICI Prudential Life Insurance; Mahesh Balasubramanian, MD & CEO of Kotak Life Insurance; Tarun Chugh, MD & CEO of Bajaj Life Insurance; and Ratnakar Patnaik, MD of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), listed what else the industry needs to reach more people.
'It will support our growth aspirations. It's very positive as it helps expand the market in a segment that really needs it.'
The alarming level of life insurance policy misselling has caught the attention of policymakers amid efforts by the insurance regulator to boost insurance penetration, a top official from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) said on Tuesday. According to Satyajit Tripathy, member-distribution at Irdai, while life insurance grievances often relate to product issues, non-life insurance complaints typically concern claim payments and exclusions. Addressing these grievances is essential to increasing insurance penetration, he said.
The All India Insurance Employees' Association has opposed the government directive seeking to open up top posts in the state-owned insurers to the private sector, saying this would lead to greater private influence and "eventual privatisation".
To handle the sudden loss of cashless facility, patients should maintain an emergency fund or a short-term credit line to manage all or part of hospitalisation costs.
'Other sectors that manage the savings pools of Indians are giving tough competition to life insurance companies.'
'The government is putting insurance in the same category as food, which is essential for life.' 'Now this is an opportunity for the sector to focus on the consumer.'
Ask rediffGURU Naveenn Kummar your insurance mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Ask rediffGURU Reetika Sharma your insurance mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Ask rediffGURU Reetika Sharma your insurance, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Ask rediffGURU Naveenn Kummar your insurance mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Fraudsters lure individuals with false promises of recovering bonuses or maturity proceeds from lapsed policies.
'The kind of reach it has with so many bank branches even in the remotest part of the country, it is one channel which will play a very important role in vision of insurance for all.'
Given that a sizeable part of this money is part of the coveted current accounts and savings accounts, it is surprising that banks are not in a hurry to revive these accounts, notes Tamal Bandyopdhyay.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has asked life insurance companies not to advertise unit-linked plans as investment products in a recent circular.
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