IRDAI President Debasish Panda on Thursday said the regulator is working on a three-pronged approach – availability, accessibility and affordability – to ensure ‘Coverage for All by 2047 ‘.
India will achieve 100 years of independence by 2047 and the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has taken several steps in the last 10-12 months to increase penetration and density of life insurance plans.
“We are also working with boards of both life and non-life insurance to have a UPI-like moment for the insurance sector. A conceptual framework has been envisaged,” he said, adding know more that this is being proposed through the Bhima trilogy – Bhima Sugam, Bhima Vistar, and the woman-centered Bhima Vahak.
Speaking at a CII event, Mr. Panda said that IRDAI is moving from a rules-based approach to a principles-based approach, that the investment opportunities in the insurance sector are huge given the size of the market. market and low insurance penetration.
Sharing about some of the reforms implemented over the past year, Panda said the administration has introduced the use and file system, stopped micromanaging costs, eliminated many pre-approvals, and reduced regulatory processes. determined.
He said as many as 70 odd regulations were repealed, 1,000 odd circulars were eliminated and 79 tax returns streamlined.
Such reforms have facilitated business, he said, promoting fair competition and encouraging the use of technology.
Furthermore, he said, to meet the distribution challenge, the administration has increased the number of partnerships that insurers can make with banks.
He said, seeing that the Indian economy today is at an inflection point, the country is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with strong demographics, large domestic market size and The stock market is active, among other factors.
“Therefore there is optimism about India, which is attracting investors who want to establish a footprint in this sector. India has the largest market as it has a fifth of the world’s population. Hence. , in a world that is lacking in opportunities, India is a beacon of hope and this is called the Indian Century,” he said.
He said the adoption of technology is changing the insurance landscape in the country, adding that the use of big data, AI, ML is impacting the sector in many ways.
He said the regulator is encouraging insurtech, regtech and fintech to provide insurance services easily.
Furthermore, to achieve the ultimate goal, a state insurance plan is being proposed, the subordinate debt limit has doubled and exposure to the BSFI sector has increased, which should help achieve coverage for all by 2047.
“In order to increase penetration, we are also trying to achieve the ultimate goal through state insurance plans aligned with the State Level Banking Commission (SLBC) on the bank’s side,” he said. row.
It will determine the needs of the state and develop plans accordingly.
“Depending on the potential and the coverage gap, we are trying to create a state insurance plan that will break down further into district insurance plans and also try to get the government involved. state authority in a similar way to what happens in the banking sector, the state insurance commission,” he said.
So, he said, once state governments become equal partners in this drive towards reaching all people, that will help achieve the goal of reaching Coverage for All by 2047.
In addition, he said, the government is considering amending the Insurance Act and that would allow new players to join in the form of micro, regional, fixed and specialized insurers and maybe even general licensing.
This way, he said, “we’ll be able to cater to different geographies and different populations. So if you look at the banking side of things, they’re usually also differentiated. different types of banks. So they focus on trying to address the needs of that particular geography or population.” After the amendment, he said there will be different capital requirements.
“We also recommended that now intermediaries or distributors come in and renew their subscription license every two years. So we asked to be able to provide a license. a one-time subscription or a perpetual license,” he said.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
