Norms for Regulatory Sandbox notified by IRDAI

IRDAI said that it has notified regulations regarding the Regulatory Sandbox approach in order to promote innovation in the sector had been notified. The regulator said guidelines on the operation of the Regulatory Sandbox have been figured in the regulation, outlining the procedure to be followed in implementing the “innovation in insurance” programme. The regulations aim to keep a balance between protection of interests of policyholders on one hand and orderly development of insurance sector on the other, while facilitating innovation. The main focus is to facilitate creation of a regulatory sandbox environment, and relax provisions, if required, of any existing regulations. Application for implementing the innovative solutions can be made in the areas of insurance solicitation or distribution, insurance products, underwriting, policy and claims servicing. Firstly, the authority will be inviting applications for the Regulatory Sandbox from September 15 to October 14. According to the regulations, Regulatory Sandbox means an environment used in the financial services sector that provides testing ground for new business models, processes and applications which may not necessarily be covered fully by or are not fully compliant with existing norms.