T L Alamelu, Member,(Non-Life),IRDAI
Alamelu also cautioned insurers about the premium hikes and said the regulator is watching the situation
“We have an eye on how insurers increase their premiums,” Alamelu said
Hyderabad:
T L Alamelu, Member (Non-Life), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority(IRDAI), has said that either there must be a separate regulator for the healthcare segment or that the IRDAI must be allowed to regulate hospitals.
“We wish that there is a regulator or we are allowed to regulate hospitals,” said Alamelu, while addressing the 23rd CII Insurance and Pensions Summit on Monday.
Alamelu also cautioned insurers about the premium hikes and said the regulator is watching the situation.
“We have an eye on how insurers increase their premiums,” Alamelu added.
Alamelu also mentioned that “InsurTechs and FinTechs are both ways for the industry to move forward.
“The “regulator has allowed the industry to do digital policies and we have in the regulatory sandbox encouraged this marriage between the InsurTech and insurers.”
Addressing the event, Randip Singh Jagpal, chief general manager, IRDAI, said the regulator favours removing all kind of stumbling blocks in the insurance distribution space.
“We are considering if the industry is ready for robo advisory services and if corporate agents and marketing firms can be allowed to sell products of more companies,’’ he said.
Saurabh Mishra, Joint Secretary, Department of Financial Services, said, “The initiatives like the Jeevan Jyoti, Suraksha Bima Yojana, Atal Pension Yojana and the Ayushman Bharat scheme have been kind of stand-out initiatives that aim to provide a social security net to insurance and pension schemes. These initiatives have certainly helped addressing the socio-economic needs of the poor, the underserved, the underprivileged by providing financial security of some sort,”
He also highlighted that the insurance industry should “focus on steadily shifting towards increasing the access of low-cost simple insurance products including those that can be sold through all channels.”
“The other idea that necessitates regulatory scrutiny is that the application of technology in Insurance must be really assessed,” he added.
Suresh Mathur, managing director In-charge, Institute of Insurance and Risk Management said , that “Cybersecurity is constantly being rated as one of the top threats to business today.”
“Data protection is an area that will require closer examination by all the stakeholders as the volume of personal data handled by the insurers increased,” he added.