Insurance industry regulator, IRDAI, may introduce a few flexibilities for policyholders by way of revival of lapsed policies and maturity amount payment, according to an official.
The official said that under the proposed changes, policy revival would be allowed even after five years against the present rule of allowing only a two-year window. In case of maturity payments, the official said that many policyholders preferred payment of maturity amount in instalments. This might be allowed, he indicated.
“Some flexibility is being proposed and they will come up either at the forthcoming board meeting by month-end or the one after”, according to Nilesh Sathe Member-Life, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).
Capital norms
The capital requirement norm for insurance companies was ₹100 crore, he said. There were some thoughts on easing this to bring in more players in the market, he said.
This could happen by 2021 or 2022 so that many aspirants could join the sector, he told the media on the sidelines of a MCCI seminar here on Thursday. He felt that smaller companies could enter the arena offering a few select products.
Mr. Sathe said that there was scope for unlocking value by paring promoters’ holdings in insurance companies and getting them listed. “Promoters share [holding] should come down,” he said. According to him, bringing down distribution expenses could reduce the cost of insurance products, making them attractive for people and increase insurance penetration. MCCI past president Anupam Shah said that demonetisation and Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana had boosted financial savings and a good part of this, would find its way to insurance products.