Insurers may soon be able to launch covers without regulator nod

IRDAI wants to move to a ‘use and file’ system where insurers can market products without first obtaining an approval from the regulator, stated IRDAI Chairman Subhash C. Khuntia. This is in contrast to the current ‘file and use’ system where if an insurer wishes to launch a new product, it has to file an application with IRDAI and can sell the product only after getting all the regulatory approvals.

Subhash C. Khuntia said at the Virtual Actuarial Conclave 2021, “We have already started this in some of the segments and we would like to go further. Unfortunately, this experiment which we tried sometime back, we found that some of the ‘use and file’ products did not live up to the regulatory requirement. He also said the number of actuaries in the country is abysmally low for a country of India’s size. He called for increasing the number of actuaries to at least 1,000-1,200, from the current 458.