Insurance

The company claimed that it is the number one player in health insurance business in India.

Hemant G Contractor, Chairman, PFRDA said that the pension fund regulator has already sought clarification on this matter.

IRDAI has improved disclosure norms, restricted usage of awards & ratings and prohibited marketing of products which show tax benefits of policies without stating that such benefits are subject to changes in the tax laws.

The discretion to pay first year commission has been left to insurance companies.

Only 4-5 players (individuals and entities) have approached IRDAI to float Insurance Marketing Firms.

The company was found to have made hefty payments towards updating and sharing of database.

Central Excise Intelligence said that these companies paid commissions to car manufacturers and dealers of up to 45% who are not authorized agents to distribute motor insurance policies.

The scheme guarantees an annual return of 9%.

The company was found to have violated various norms like offering hefty discounts to a few policyholders, soliciting insurance policies through unauthorized agents and issuing policies without proposal forms on renewals and receiving direct business from its sponsor.

Also, the regulator has instructed insurance companies to deploy unclaimed funds in money market instruments or fixed deposit of scheduled banks.

The growth was largely on account of LIC which contributed more than 70% to the overall industry’s new business premium collection.

The insurance regulator has sought to rationalize the commission structure by including expenses incurred on agents in the form of junket, loyalty program etc. within the overall upfront commission.

The committee will give its recommendations on the process of recovering service tax from insurance agents.