Concerned over rising incidence of mis-selling, the finance ministry has directed heads of public sector banks to put in place strong mechanisms to avoid unethical practices for selling insurance policies to customers. The Department of Financial Services has received complaints that fraudulent and unethical practices are adopted by banks and life insurance companies for procuring policies from the bank customers, a letter addressed to chairpersons and managing directors of public sector banks said. There have been instances where life insurance policies were sold to customers aged above 75 years in Tier II-III cities.
Following suggestion from Minister for Roads Nitin Gadkari, Centre seeks ideas from IRDAI and General Insurance Council on feasibility of providing insurance cover for retrenchment.
General insurance companies are likely to see a surge in demand for health insurance in the coming months due to falling air quality in the country. The health insurance segment has registered a strong growth after the pandemic due to higher awareness. In the first half of financial year 2023-24, the segment grew by 24.4 per cent to Rs 54,713.52 crore from Rs 43,981.54 crore in H1FY23, driving growth of the non-life insurance industry.
Mauritius-based IndusInd International Holdings and other Hinduja group entities are expected to make payments worth Rs 9,661 crore for the acquisition of bankrupt Reliance Capital (RCap) only after getting all the legal and regulatory clearances, including from the Supreme Court, thus delaying the closure of the transaction. A source close to the development said that according to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) order dated February 27, the payment for the acquisition was to be made within 90 days from the NCLT's approval of the resolution plan and after receiving all legal and regulatory clearances.
Currently, FDI up to 26 per cent is permitted through automatic approval route.
'We have opened 100 branches in the last one and a half years. Our manpower is also in place.'
Bank of Baroda on Thursday expressed hope that it would get the Reserve Bank of India's permission to foray into life insurance business this year.
'With a very stable technology with limited functionalities, a large network has spanned out.'
The four public sector general insurance companies -- New India Assurance, United India Insurance, Oriental Insurance, and National Insurance Company -- have lost 800 basis points (bps) in market share in last five years to their private counterparts, the data from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irdai) revealed. In 2018-19, the four had a cumulative market share of 40.04 per cent, with New India Assurance having a market share of 14 per cent and United India Insurance with a market share of 9.63 per cent. But, gradually in the past five years, these state-backed firms have lost their market share to private sector players, due to the declining health of their business.
It will help in reducing the turnaround time.
Customers frequently sign without reading the terms and conditions, resulting in a poor understanding of coverage, and eventually leading to partial payouts
The new business premium of life insurance companies usually sees the highest growth in the March quarter.
'I am very happy to see that the work is starting to bear some fruit now.'
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Overcoming its initial concerns, national reinsurer GIC Re has contributed to the formation of an insurance pool to cover most imports from Russia. While it will be called the fertiliser pool with a corpus of Rs 500 crore, it can be used to cover the risks of oil and gas imports too. This was decided by a clutch of Indian insurance companies, led by the state-owned ones. GIC Re's share is about 40 per cent in the pool. Last month, GIC Re had shot off a letter to all non-life insurance companies that underwrite marine risks not to ask it for reinsurance of cargoes that originate from Russia.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has issued guidelines that will allow car dealers to become Motor Insurance Service Providers (MISP) and offer the policies of multiple general insurers, says Sanjay Kumar Singh.
Will allowing business correspondents to hawk insurance products help in reviving 5-lakh strong field agents as a viable channel?
The implementation of this toll collection system, which will eventually eradicate toll booths, necessitates the fitting of an on-board unit (OBU) in every vehicle that can track a vehicle's location in real time.
'Splitting must result in tangible benefits for the customer, otherwise it will only mean more work for them in maintaining the policy and for their nominees.'
The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (Irdai), the regulator for insurance companies, is set to allow the insurers to offer wellness programmes along with life insurance policies that can earn reward points for the policyholders. These reward points can be redeemed for getting a discount during renewal. The insurance regulator has circulated draft guidelines to insurance companies for feedback before issuing the final guidelines, as is the norm.
The new regulations will allow the insurers to charge an extra premium from policyholders who wish to buy riders with unit-linked insurance plans.
The Hinduja group is learnt to be looking at alternative means of financing, including private credit, to fund its Rs 9,661 crore all-cash offer to acquire Reliance Capital. The regulator, Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority of India (Irdai), had earlier rejected the collateral offered by the group to raise funds. The Hinduja group was in talks with Barclays, JPMorgan, Cerberus Capital Management and Apollo Global Management to raise up to $850 million.
'As our per capita income increases and various demographic segments emerge, the need for various kinds of protection and risk covers will become even more explicit.'
Mergers and acquisitions would continue to create big corporate conglomerates but there is a need to draw a red line to avoid dominance and curbing of open competition in market by them, he said while addressing a conference on competition issues in New Delhi.
Numbers could be classified further into (140) marketing and (160 or 161) for service calls to easily identify the purpose of the call in the future.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
There is huge potential for data analytics insurance sector in India which has over 40 crore life insurance policies.
They combine financial protection and health and lifestyle management support for non-communicable diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, cancers and tumours.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
An interview with Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) Chairman J Hari Narayan. He is charting the road map for strengthening the regulatory framework and also dealing with the turmoil in the US.
Younger people, who usually have a longer investment horizon which allows them to handle the interim volatility, may go for them.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) is considering a proposal to make insurance frauds a parameter for calculating credit scores in an attempt to put a lid on the increase in such activity. The proposal, which is a part of the recommendations made by a working group formed by Irdai and the General Insurance Council, suggests that insurance frauds should feature when the risk profiles of individuals are evaluated and should be used to calculate their credit scores. A poor credit score can deprive a person of financial services such as loans and credit cards, and deter him from indulging in fraud.
A crucial point anyone purchasing health insurance must heed is the need to declare PEDs.
If the cashless request is denied, the entire cost may need to be paid for planned treatments.
The total benefits paid by private life insurance companies to policyholders rose by 5.98 per cent to Rs 1.57 trillion during 2022-23. This figure stood at Rs 1.49 trillion in the corresponding year-ago period. On the other hand, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) paid out 4 per cent fewer benefits at Rs 3.39 trillion from Rs 3.53 trillion in 2021-22.
Health insurance policy-holders will be able to avail a discount on the premium payable if there were no claims made in the previous year, according to the circular released by the regulator.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) will look at Indian executives for all top posts at insurance companies.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Investor Information - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances