Micro-insurance regulator soon

KOLKATA: The government has mooted a separate regulatory authority for micro-insurance and the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (Irda) is likely to initiate action on this front.

R Kannan, member, Irda, said on Friday, “The government is thinking of many steps for enhancing the penetration of the insurance in the country. Micro-insurance has been designed to provide for financial inclusion since the cost of premium and procedures involved in taking insurance policy were least under the scheme.”

He was speaking at a Birla Institute of Management Technology summit in Delhi.
Kannan said a separate regulator for micro-insurance was required as the parameters for regulation are different from the regular insurance schemes.

“We have to initiate a debate on this so that in a few years time we will be able to have a standalone regulatory mechanism for micro-insurance,” he added.

He said the cost of intermediation for micro-insurance should be lowered to make premium payments affordable and products have to be designed such that vulnerable sections of society are benefited.
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