‘Use & file’: New life insurance products sans nod

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) had earlier extended similar relaxations to health insurance products as well as general insurance covers.

Irdai said it has extended the ‘use and file’ procedure for most of the life insurance products in its continuous endeavour towards the reform agenda taken up towards having a fully insured India.

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“This means now the life insurance companies can also launch these products without prior approval of Irdai,” the regulator added.

Earlier when the industry was in its nascent stage, it was mandatory for insurance companies to take prior approval of Irdai before launching any life insurance product.

However, with the maturity attained by the industry, it is envisaged that necessary relaxations may be allowed, Irdai said. “This move will enable life Insurers to launch most of the products (except individual savings, individual pensions and annuity) in a timely manner according to the dynamic needs of the market,” it said.

According to Irdai, the relaxation will result in improving ease of doing business for insurance companies as well as lead to expansion of the choices available to policyholders.

“The life insurance industry is expected to use this opportunity to respond faster to the emerging market needs, in terms of designing and pricing of insurance products resulting in more choices for the policyholders, which will further help in increasing the insurance penetration in India,” it said.

The life insurers are expected to have a board-approved product management and pricing policy, Irdai added.