The government on Friday approved the much-awaited comprehensive insurance bill, which seeks to raise foreign direct investment cap in private sector to 49 per cent from 26 per cent, and said it would be tabled in the Parliament in December.
After tying up with 15 banks, state-owned National Insurance Company on Friday signed a memorandum of understanding with leading NGO, HelpAge India, to distribute its products.
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 sectoral regulator Irda on Wednesday said the initial public float guidelines for the insurance industry will be ready by early October.
With the top life insurance companies planning to list next year, the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority is setting up a committee for working out a mechanism to decide the valuation and the likely initial public offer price.
Currently, FDI up to 26 per cent is permitted through automatic approval route.
Life insurers, at present, are allowed to invest 50 per cent of their funds in government securities, 15 per cent in infrastructure-related projects, and the balance 35 per cent in other-than-approved instruments for traditional policies.
One of the most exploited provisions is Section 10(13A), which permits exemption on HRA.
Like dematerialisation of securities, it will offer dual benefits of cost-effectiveness and convenience.
The increase in FDI limit in the insurance sector may attract Rs 30,000 crore that the industry requires over the next five years, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has said.
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has permitted Sahara Group to enter life-insurance segment, and issued 12 letters of intent to insurance broking entities, including three having foreign equity stake, to conduct business in India.
A committee headed by Irda's member actuary R Kannan has suggested a grace period of 15 days for policyholders who pay premium on a monthly basis, while a 30 days grace period will be available to those who pay their premium annually, half-yearly or quarterly.
The insurance sector is making a strong comeback. Buoyed by a steep rise in sale of single premium policies, the industry clocked a 53.25 per cent rise in November.
Munich-based Allianz will explore new opportunities in the Indian insurance market not only as an investor but also as an operator, the company told Business Standard on Tuesday. "India will continue to be one of Allianz's main growth markets, and Allianz will explore new opportunities to further grow its participation in the Indian insurance market in the future, not only as an investor but also as an operator," the company said.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Sebi had in October last year given the go-ahead to insurance companies for coming out with IPOs.
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.
The next generation GST reforms would 'absolutely' set an economy open and transparent with further reduction in compliance burden and benefiting small businesses, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Tuesday.
Insurance claims arising out of the Mumbai terror attacks in 2008 are estimated to wipe out about Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) from the corpus set up by general insurers to fund such losses.
About 70,000 employees of public sector general insurance companies would go on a one-day strike on December 21 in protest against the proposed increase in foreign direct investment cap, outsourcing of jobs and to press for early settlement of their
Hari Narayan said the proposed IPO guidelines for non-life insurance firms were in the process of finalisation before they were sent to SCADA, a body constituted by Securities and Exchange Board of India, for approval followed by a final approval from the market regulator.
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.
'I am very happy to see that the work is starting to bear some fruit now.'
A day after Prudential bought out AIG's Asia arm, AIA, top executives of both AIG and Tata AIG met the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority to keep the latter abreast of developments.Sources at Tata Sons told Business Standard they had decided to buy out AIG's stake in the life insurance business. And, would consider inducting a partner at a later stage.
'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 total premium income for the industry from the motor portfolio is around Rs 8,000 crore, and private vehicles account for about 65 per cent of the market.
The Law Commission is likely to come up with a final report on revamping all insurance laws by December this year after consultation with the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.
Insurance industry is poised to double its business with premium income expected to be 3 per cent of gross domestic product in 4-5 years compared to 1.6 per cent now, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority said on Wednesday.\n\n\n\n
'The committee has been constituted. Different government departments and FSDC members are part of it.'
New returns norm may push us off business, say insurers
Payments can be made till April 21; for motor the relaxation is only for third-party insurance.
Many high-profile IPOs in India since 2021 have destroyed investor wealth due to overvaluation, weak business models, and post-listing disinterest, turning 1 lakh investments into as little as 3,500.
Younger people, who usually have a longer investment horizon which allows them to handle the interim volatility, may go for them.
