Insurance sector

Senior industry officials also urged the government to take steps to increase insurance penetration in the country. Even though the GST rates do not form part of the union budget, insurers want an indication towards slashing of the rates on insurance premiums in Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's budget speech.

The sectoral regulator has been functioning without a Chairman since May 2021 and it is business as usual at the Hyderabad headquartered office with the savings of over Rs 4 lakh per month as salary per month.

Addressing the 17th Indo-US Economic Summit, organised by the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce (IACC), he said he "sincerely hopes more and more US companies will come and invest in the road and highway projects in India which is the gold mine for all stakeholders". He assured better returns for the investors compared to those garnered in the US.

As per the draft regulations, put out by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) one of the objectives of Insurance Information Bureau of India (IIB) is: "To generate benchmark rates for different Lines of Insurance Business including Life, Motor, Health, Marine, Fire and others on a periodic basis for promoting reasonableness and sustainability of Premiums in Insurance Business."

In August 2020, ICICI Lombard announced the acquisition of the general insurance business of Bharti Axa General by way of a demerger.He said the action plans that were drawn during the past one year on integration will be put into action. From September 8 onwards, ICICI Lombard General will be in-charge of Bharti Axa General's businesss, Balachandran said.

"As regards the life insurance sector, the storyboard is clear. The insurers have limited products (endowment, money back), lower internal rate of return (IRR) in endowment policies and disinterest on the part of life insurers to sell term insurance policies after Covid-19 death claims," a senior life insurance industry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IANS.

The Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation Bill, 2021 on Wednesday got Parliament's nod, with the Rajya Sabha passing the legislation, which has already been cleared by the lower house. The bill proposes to provide relief to small depositors by providing guarantees on their life savings, increasing the insurance amount on each depositor's bank deposit to Rs 5 lakh in both principal and interest.

The Central government on Thursday notified the revised pay packets for LIC employees. The wage revision is effective from 1.8.2017. "The employees are happy with the wage revision that has come at a difficult situation. The pay hike for the employees is expected to be over 25 per cent per month," Shreekant Mishra, General Secretary, All India Insurance Employees Association (AIIEA) told IANS.

"The uncertainty is high owing to the Covid-19 pandemic. The consumer sentiment is negative. The health insurance portfolio will continue to do well. The motor insurance business should do well if the economy doesn't deteriorate further. Some sport utility vehicles (SUV) have waiting periods," Roopam Asthana, CEO and the Whole Time Director, Liberty General Insurance Ltd told IANS.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) had also issued various directions and advisories to Future Generali India on several regulatory violations. The insurance regulator had carried an on-site inspection of Future Generali India in January 2018.