The Insurance regulatory and Development Authority of India has directed Health Insurance providers to develop specialized policies to cater to the needs of senior citizens and also establish dedicated channels for addressing their grievances and claims. With effect from 1 April 2024, IRDAI has removed the age limit for purchasing health insurance policies.Earlier, 65 years was the age limit for buying new health insurance policies [6]
IRDAI is a 10-member body including the chairman, five full-time and four part-time members appointed by the government of India.
History
In India insurance was mentioned in the writings of many historical documents, which examined the pooling of resources for redistribution after fire, floods, epidemics and famine.[relevant?] The life-insurance business began in 1818[7] with the establishment of the Oriental Life Insurance Company in Calcutta; the company failed in 1834. In 1829, Madras Equitable began conducting life-insurance business in the Madras Presidency. The British Insurance Act was enacted in 1870, and Bombay Mutual (1871), Oriental (1874) and Empire of India (1897) were founded in the Bombay Presidency. The era was dominated by British companies.
In 1914, the government of India began publishing insurance-company returns. The Indian Life Assurance Companies Act, 1912 was the first statute regulating life insurance. In 1928 the Indian Insurance Companies Act was enacted to enable the government to collect statistical information about life- and non-life-insurance business conducted in India by Indian and foreign insurers, including provident insurance societies. In 1938 the legislation was consolidated and amended by the Insurance Act, 1938, with comprehensive provisions to control the activities of insurers.
The Insurance Amendment Act of 1950 abolished principal agencies, but the level of competition was high and there were allegations of unfair trade practices. The Government of India decided to nationalise the insurance industry.
An ordinance was issued on 19 January 1956, nationalising the life-insurance sector, and the Life Insurance Corporation was established that year. The LIC absorbed 154 Indian and 16 non-Indian insurers and 75 provident societies. The LIC had a monopoly until the late 1990s, when the insurance industry was reopened to the private sector.
General insurance in India began during the Industrial Revolution in the West and the growth of sea-faring commerce during the 17th century. It arrived as a legacy of British occupation, with its roots in the 1850 establishment of the Triton Insurance Company in Calcutta. In 1907 the Indian Mercantile Insurance was established, the first company to underwrite all classes of general insurance. In 1957 the General Insurance Council (a wing of the Insurance Association of India) was formed, framing a code of conduct for fairness and sound business practice.
Eleven years later, the Insurance Act was amended to regulate investments and set minimum solvency margins and the Tariff Advisory Committee was established. In 1972, with the passage of the General Insurance Business (Nationalisation) Act, the insurance industry was nationalized on 1 January 1973. One hundred seven insurers were amalgamated and grouped into four companies: National Insurance Company, New India Assurance Company, Oriental Insurance Company and United India Insurance Company. The General Insurance Corporation of India was incorporated in 1971, effective on 1 January 1973.
The re-opening of the insurance sector began during the early 1990s. In 1993, the government set up a committee chaired by former Reserve Bank of India governor R. N. Malhotra to propose recommendations for insurance reform complementing those initiated in the financial sector. The committee submitted its report in 1994, recommending that the private sector be permitted to enter the insurance industry. Foreign companies should enter by floating Indian companies, preferably as joint ventures with Indian partners.
Following the recommendations of the Malhotra Committee, in 1999 the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) was constituted to regulate and develop the insurance industry and was incorporated in April 2000. Objectives of the IRDA include promoting competition to enhance customer satisfaction with increased consumer choice and lower premiums while ensuring the financial security of the insurance market.
The IRDA opened up the market in August 2000 with an invitation for registration applications; foreign companies were allowed ownership up to 26 percent. The authority, with the power to frame regulations under Section 114A of the Insurance Act, 1938, has framed regulations ranging from company registrations to the protection of policyholder interests since 2000.
In December 2000, the subsidiaries of the General Insurance Corporation of India were restructured as independent companies and the GIC was converted into a national re-insurer. Parliament passed a bill de-linking the four subsidiaries from the GIC in July 2002. There are 28 general insurance companies, including the Export Credit Guarantee Corporation of India and the Agriculture Insurance Corporation of India, and 24 life-insurance companies operating in the country. With banking services, insurance services add about seven percent to India’s GDP.[citation needed]
In 2013 the IRDAI attempted to raise the foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in the insurance sector to 49 percent from the existing 26 percent.[8] The FDI limit in the insurance sector has been raised to 74 percent according to the 2021 union budget.
Structure
The IRDAI and its linked organisations
Section 4 of the IRDAI Act 1999 specifies the authority's composition. It is a ten-member body consisting of a chairman, five full-time and four part-time members appointed by the government of India.[9] At present ( January, 2023 ), the authority is chaired by Mr. Debasish Panda [10] and its full-time members[11] are Mrs T.L.Alamelu, K.Ganesh, Pournima Gupte, Praveen Kutumbe and Sujay Banarji.
Functions
The functions of the IRDAI are defined in Section 14 of the IRDAI Act, 1999,[2] and include:
Issuing, renewing, modifying, withdrawing, suspending or cancelling registrations
Protecting policyholder interests
Specifying qualifications, the code of conduct and training for intermediaries and agents
Specifying the code of conduct for surveyors and loss assessors
Promoting efficiency in the conduct of insurance businesses
Promoting and regulating professional organisations connected with the insurance and re-insurance industry
Levying fees and other charges
Inspecting and investigating insurers, intermediaries and other relevant organisations
Regulating rates, advantages, terms and conditions which may be offered by insurers not covered by the Tariff Advisory Committee under section 64U of the Insurance Act, 1938 (4 of 1938)
Specifying how books should be kept
Regulating company investment of funds
Regulating a margin of solvency
Adjudicating disputes between insurers and intermediaries or insurance intermediaries
Supervising the Tariff Advisory Committee
Specifying the percentage of premium income to finance schemes for promoting and regulating professional organisations
Specifying the percentage of life- and general insurance business undertaken in the rural or social sector
Specifying the form and the manner in which books of accounts shall be maintained, and statement of accounts shall be rendered by insurers and other insurer intermediaries.
Insurance repository
The prime minister of India announced an insurance repository system, helping policyholders buy and maintain insurance policies in electronic form rather than on paper. Insurance repositories, like share depositories or mutual fund transfer agencies, will hold electronic records of insurance policies issued to individuals as electronic policies or e-policies.[12]
Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to protect against the risk of a contingent or uncertain loss.
Life insurance is one of the growing sectors in India since 2000 as Government allowed Private players and FDI up to 26% and recently Cabinet approved a proposal to increase it to 49%. In 1955, mean risk per policy of Indian and foreign life insurers amounted respectively to ₹2,950 & ₹7,859. Life Insurance in India was nationalised by incorporating Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) in 1956. All private life insurance companies at that time were taken over by LIC. In 1993, the Government of India appointed RN Malhotra Committee to lay down a road map for privatisation of the life insurance sector.
Insurance in India covers both public and private sector organisations. It is listed in the Seventh Schedule of India's Constitution as a Union List subject, meaning it can only be legislated by the Central government.
A unit-linked insurance plan is a product offered by insurance companies that, unlike a pure insurance policy, gives investors both insurance and investment under a single integrated plan.
Insurance law is the practice of law surrounding insurance, including insurance policies and claims. It can be broadly broken into three categories - regulation of the business of insurance; regulation of the content of insurance policies, especially with regard to consumer policies; and regulation of claim handling wise.
Insurance in the United States refers to the market for risk in the United States, the world's largest insurance market by premium volume. According to Swiss Re, of the $6.782 trillion of global direct premiums written worldwide in 2022, $2.959 trillion (43.6%) were written in the United States.
Agriculture Insurance Company of India Limited (AIC) is an Indian public sector undertaking headquartered in New Delhi. It is a government-owned agricultural insurer under ownership of the Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
General Insurance Corporation of India Limited,, is an Indian public sector reinsurance company, headquarters in Mumbai, India. It was incorporated on 22 November 1972 under Companies Act, 1956. It was the sole nationalised reinsurance company in the Indian insurance market until the insurance market was open to foreign reinsurance players by late 2016 including companies from Germany, Switzerland and France. GIC Re's shares are listed on BSE Limited and National Stock Exchange of India Ltd.
National Insurance Company Limited (NICL) is an Indian public sector insurance company owned by the Government of India and administered by the Ministry of Finance. It is headquartered at Kolkata and was established in 1906 by Gordhandas Dutia and Jeevan Das Dutia. National Insurance company and Asian Insurance company was nationalised in 1972. Its portfolio consists of a multitude of general insurance policies, offered to a wide arena of clients encompassing different sectors of the economy. Apart from being a leading insurance provider in India, NICL also serves in Nepal.
Niva Bupa Health Insurance Company Limited is an Indian health insurance company, founded in 2008. It is headquartered in New Delhi, India.
HDFC ERGO General Insurance Company Limited is a 51:49 joint venture firm between HDFC and ERGO International AG. It is one of the insurance entities of the Munich Re Group in Germany operating in the insurance field under the BFSI sector. The retail sector includes various products like health insurance, vehicle insurance, travel insurance, home insurance, personal accident insurance, and cyber insurance. The Corporate sector includes products like liability, marine, and property insurance. Rural sector products include rainfall index insurance, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, and cattle insurance policy.
HDFC Life Insurance Company Limited is a long-term life insurance provider headquartered in Mumbai, offering individual and group insurance services. The company was incorporated on 14 August 2000.
Motor Vehicle Insurance in India protects the motor vehicle owner against (a) the loss of or damage to the vehicle due to an insured risk, loss of use, theft, etc., and (b) indemnification if the vehicle owner is liable to any third party by law. Third-party insurance is a legal requirement. The vehicle's owner is legally responsible for any injury, danger, or damage to life or property of a third party caused or arising from the use of the vehicle in a public place. Driving without insurance in a public place is a punishable offence under the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988.
The Oriental Insurance Company Ltd. (OICL) is an Indian public sector insurance company owned by the Government of India and administered by the Ministry of Finance. Headquartered in New Delhi, the company has 29 regional offices and more than 2,000 active branches nationwide. It also has branches in Nepal, Kuwait, and Dubai that together yielded a Gross Premium of ₹377.70 crore (US$45 million) during the year 2022-23. It recorded a gross premium of ₹15,993 crore (US$1.9 billion) in the financial year 2022–23.
The Insurance Act, 1938 is a law originally passed in 1938 in British India to regulate the insurance sector. It provides the broad legal framework within which the industry operates.
Acko General Insurance is a private sector general insurance company in India. Founded in November 2016, the company received its license from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) in September 2017. Acko follows an online-led model and hence all operations for the company are offered through the digital platform.
Nepal Beema Pradhikaran (Nepal Insurance Authority) (Nepali:नेपाल बीमा प्राधिकरण) is Nepal Government's official insurance regulatory body. Operating under the Ministry of Finance, the authority is entrusted with the objective to ensure a fair, competitive, reliable and credible insurance service in Nepal. In addition, the Authority is also responsible for complete regulation of insurance to effectively protect the rights and interests of policyholders.
Insurance Brokers Association of India (IBAI) is an Indian trade association and regulatory body for insurance brokers in India. All licensed insurance brokers in India must be members of the IBAI Insurance Broker Regulations.
Financial regulation in India is governed by a number of regulatory bodies. Financial regulation is a form of regulation or supervision, which subjects financial institutions to certain requirements, restrictions and guidelines, aiming to maintain the stability and integrity of the financial system. This may be handled by either a government or non-government organization. Financial regulation has also influenced the structure of banking sectors by increasing the variety of financial products available. Financial regulation forms one of three legal categories which constitutes the content of financial law, the other two being market practices and case law.
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