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Journalism of Courage
IRDAI chairman Debasish Panda met CEOs of SOME general insurers, including health insurers, in Mumbai last week to review the performance of the industry and seek ideas from the industry leaders to improve insurance penetration in the country.
Like earlier meetings, titled ‘Bima Manthan’ where Panda had met CEOs of the entire industry, with elaborate agenda, there was no pre-set agenda for the meeting and select CEOs of general insurance industry, mostly Mumbai based, were invited for it.
“This meeting was for general update and to review general industry performance in terms of growth, loss ratio, claim settlement ratios, initiatives taken by the IRDAI in the last few months and as an industry what else can be done to improve penetration and market growth,’’ said the CEO of a company who had attended the meeting.
The discussion had focused on penetration and what all is required from the regulator to push reforms in the industry, said the CEO of another company.
“Emphasis was on how we can provide more products and distribution reach,” he said.
Panda, after taking over as the chairman of the IRDAI in mid-March, has been unveiling extensive plans and changes across the functioning of the industry promoting the ease of doing business, technology and insurance penetration in the country.
Panda had earlier said after two decades of opening up, the sector is quite low on global standards and set a high target of 2.52 per cent penetration and Rs 11.73 lakh crore of premium for the industry by FY 2027-28.
The general insurance industry ended FY 2021-22 with a total premium of Rs 2.20 lakh crore and it has to grow at 40 per cent annually to achieve targets set by the IRDAI. Several plans like reducing minimum capital and allowing smaller insurance firms in the country need amendments in the Insurance Act. Now, the industry is keenly waiting whether these amendments can go through in the winter session of the parliament.
