Hydearbad:
The insurance regulator IRDAI on Friday has formed a 10-member high-level panel under the chairmanship of Suresh Mathur, excecutive director, IRDAI, to review the three –year old regulations on the Insurance Marketing Firm (IMF), one of the new distribution channels launched in 2015.
The panel will recommend guidelines by July 31on the areas on which the existing regulations are silent and ways to further strengthen the channel by taking up the products which fall under the jurisdiction of other financial sector regulators, including creating avenues for discussions with the other regulators, said Sujay Banarj, member(Distribution), IRDAI.
IMF was introduced with the objective of increasing insurance penetration in the country through an area–wise registration approach.
Some of the other members of the pnel are-K.G.P.L. Ramadevi, general manager,IRDAI, Siddharth Pradhan, GM, New India Assurance, Rakesh Kumar, ED, Life Insurance Corporation, Amit Rathi, Sr. VP, Max Life Insurance. Deepti Rastogi, Sr. VP, Apollo Munich Health, Sourabh Bhanot, Sr. Vice president, Aviva Life Insurance.
IRDAI also conducted three workshops for the IMFs at Chandigarh, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad in May’ 2018, wherein operational feedback was received from them
The number of registered insurance marketing firms in India have grown to 219 at present from less than 20 about two years ago, according to data from the IRDAI.
IMFs solicit or procure insurance products, and undertake insurance service activities like undertaking back office functions of insurers. Each IMF is allowed to tie up with two life insurers, two non-life insurers, and two health insurers.