Bombay HC ticks off Irda for bureaucratic culture

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) drew flak from the Bombay high court for “adopting a bureaucratic approach in redressing consumer grievances in the health insurance sector”.

A division bench of chief justice Mohit Shah and justice RS Dalvi in the Bombay high court said, “Your client must change its mindset. The IRDA is created for regulating the service industry and not for babus.”

The judges also asked why the insurance regulator has so far not come out with rules for governing health insurance. “Why hasn’t IRDA come out with regulations when, in this age of transparency, rules are in existence even for the issuance of ration cards?”

Counsel for IRDA, Paritosh Jaiswal told the bench that the IRDA was in the process of framing comprehensive rules and that the draft regulations would be prepared in four months. The court then directed IRDA to make available the draft regulations on its website along with names and contact details of members of the Insurance Advisory Committee, so that the public can contribute by way of comments and suggestions.

The directions came during the hearing of a PIL filed by city-based activist Gaurang Damani, seeking to bring more clarity in health insurance agreements and the procedure for settlement of claims so that the end consumer knows exactly what to expect from insurance firms.