IRDA issues draft norms for bancassurace business

25 Nov 2011 Evaluate

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has came out with draft guidelines for the bancassurance business, under which insurance companies will be allowed to partner with different banks and non-banking finance companies (NBFCs) in different states for selling their products. However, as per the draft norms, banks and NBFCs will not be allowed to sell products of competing insurers in a particular state.

According to IRDA, banks may now be able to tie up with one insurance company in the life, non-life and health insurance spaces but only in a specified number of states. In other words, banks can have tie-ups with multiple insurance companies in different states. At present, one bank can sell products of any one insurer in the life and non-life segments.

Further, as per the draft norms, a bank can tie up with a specialized insurance company in addition to an insurance company. Also, a specialized insurer can tie up with any bancassurance agent across the country. However, the guidelines have not defined a specialized insurance company. The draft norms have also allowed banks to tie-up with an additional non-life company just to sell health insurance in case the existing general insurer does not have any health product.

For the purpose of appointing bank partners, the draft norms have also divide the country into three zones. Zone A includes Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore. Zone B includes Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh and zone C includes north-eastern states along with Goa and Uttarakhand. An insurance company can’t tie-up with any bancassurance agent in more than nine states and Union territories (UTs) in zone A and six states and UTs in zone B. Since the guidelines are silent about zone C, one can presume that the insurer can tie-up with one bank in all the states under zone C.

On the commission front, the draft norms has recommended limiting the commission to 85% of the commission payable under the Insurance Act, 1938.

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