Page 6 - Insurance Times August 2021

Insurers want early imple- Consumer Lines, Tata AIG General In- tered premiums worth Rs. 39,810.39
surance. crore in the june quarter against Rs.
mentation of IFRS norms
The company had gross direct pre- 35,839.88 in the same period of last
Insurance companies have sought early mium underwritten of Rs. 8,402 crore year, up 11%.
implementation of the International in 2020-21 and a market share of 4.05 The April-June quarters in both 2020
Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) per cent. and 2021 were characterised by strict
from the government. The move would country wide lockdowns.
help insurers in India in shifting to- Its gross premium underwritten grew
wards a risk-based solvency and super- by 15.29 per cent in the first three Even as June 2021 has seen a revival
vision regime. months of the current fiscal to Rs. in business activities, the demand for
2,074.01 crore by June 30, 2021 com- insurance covers barring health re-
The request was made when the gov- pared to Rs. 1,798.97 crore a year ago. mains subdued according to experts.
ernment had sought suggestions on
amendments to the Indian Insurance "Despite the disruption from the pan- Cabinet approves privatis-
Companies (Foreign Investment) Rules, demic, last year was a good year for us.
2015, that impose certain restrictions Prior to the pandemic, we had made ation of general insurance
on insurers with foreign investment certain strategic investments and iden- firm
over 49 per cent. tified key areas two years back. Health
was clearly identified as a very focussed The Union cabinet has approved
The industry has been seeking clarity amendment to the General Insurance
product for us," Ved said.
on the implementation of IFRS, as its Business (Nationalisation) Act, 1972
timeline has been deferred by the In- The insurer has worked out a strategy paving way for privatisation of one
surance Regulatory and Development of creating a standalone health insur- state-run general insurer.
Authority of India (IRDAI), said a senior ance kind of a set up, which has The amendments, approved by the
government official. boosted its customer acquisition in the cabinet, will remove the clause for the
"Insurance companies have been keen segment. Centre to hold at least 51 per cent in
on the early implementation of IFRS. public sector insurance companies at
It will not require them to maintain or Non-life insurers' GDPI any given time and transfer of man-
reserve anything extra," he added. The grows by 13.7% agement control to private players in
adoption of the new accounting stan- India's non-life insurers in the June case of a shortlisted firm. It will also
dards will help in moving towards a risk- quarter have reported a 14% growth have an enabling provision for the
based solvency and supervision regime, in gross direct premium income (GDPI), transfer of management control from
which will be "easier and attractive" to the government to the potential buyer
foreign investors, said the official. led largely by demand for health insur- of the public sector insurance company.
ance covers during the deadly second
This will further boost foreign capital wave of Covid-19, latest data released Following the cabinet nod, a bill will be
in the insurance sector, he added. The by sector regulator IRDAI showed. moved in Parliament. Although the bill
government is likely to take up the is- is not part of the indicative schedule of
sue with IRDAI. These companies registered premium legislation for the monsoon session, it
collections worth Rs. 44,434.96 crore is not clear whether the bill will be in-
in the first quarter of 2021 as against
Tata AIG General aims to troduced during any of the remaining
Rs. 39,054.82 crore in the year-ago days of the session that is scheduled to
expand period. Non-life insurers include gen- end on August 13. Reports suggest
Tata AIG General Insurance is hopeful eral insurers, standalone health insur- that the finance ministry will move
of expanding its footprint this fiscal ers and PSU insurers. amendments to the insurance act in
despite challenges from the ongoing For the month of June, the insurers the ongoing Parliament session.
Covid-19 pandemic. The insurer is eye- collected premiums worth Rs. 14,809 It is also learnt that once the bill is
ing a premium of at least Rs. 10,000 crore as against Rs. 13,842 crore in passed it will pave the way for over-
crore and is set to launch new prod- the same month last year, registeringa seas investments in a government-
ucts. growth of 6.9%. General in surers, 15 owned insurer up to the ceiling of 74
"We are looking to cross about Rs. in total, who maintain portfolios in per cent since the Centre has already
10,000 crore mark overall this fiscal," segments such as motor, liability increased foreign direct investment in
said Parag Ved, President and Head, health, travel, crop and SMEs regis- the insurance sector. T

6 The Insurance Times, August 2021