Debasish Panda, Chairman, IRDAI
“Yes, we have got intimations to have interaction with the new IRDAI chairman. We are happy that Panda is meeting us face to face. We are getting ready with our agenda to be put before him. Since, he has already dealt with the industry and has insights into the functioning of the industry, it will be easier for us interact with him and put across our problems,’’ said a few CEOs of life insurance and general insurance companies.”
Hyderabad/Mumbai:
New IRDAI chief Debasish Panda will have his first ever meet with the domestic insurers on 6th and 7th of April in Mumbai to unveil his agenda for the sector.
Panda will be meeting life insurers first on 6th and general insurers on 7th in the city.
All the insurers have been asked to be present in the meeting with five senior level functionaries.
In the last minute changes, domestic reinsurers(GIC Re and 10 Foreign Reinsurance Branches) have been excluded from the meeting.
During the two-day convention, both the councils-General Insurance Council and Life Insurance Council- have been asked the IRDAI to give presentations on their respective segments.
This will be the first ever face to face interaction of the insurance regulator with the industry players since Covid-19 pandemic hit India in March 2020 causing wide ranging disruptions to different segments of the economy including insurance industry.
“Yes, we have got intimations to have interaction with the new IRDAI chairman. We are eager and happy to meet Panda face to face. We are getting ready with our agenda to be put before him. Since, he has already dealt with the industry and has insights into the functioning of the industry, it will be easier for us interact with him and put across our problems,’’ said a few CEOs of life insurance and general insurance companies.
Panda, who retired as secretary, department of financial services(DFS), ministry of finance, in January end is new to the industry.
He, who has extensively dealt with the industry during his four-year stint in the MoF, has insight about the industry and has invited the top functionaries of each companies to take stock of a few burning issues in these two days.
Panda after taking over as chairman of IRDAI on 14th March, had a few virtual interactions with the industry representative bodies like General Insurance Council and Life Insurance Council and has conveyed his broad wish list for the industry.
He has asked the representative bodies to prepare blue print for the development of the industry.
He has emphasized that easy of doing business and issue of development for the Indian insurance and had asked the IRDA officials to improve their services for the industry.
He is also an ardent advocate of digital adoption and use of data for the functioning of the IRDA as well as the industry.
Currently, there are around 70 players including life insurers, non-life insurers, stand- alone health insurers, specialised insurers and 10 foreign reinsurance branches(FRBs) in India.