Page 8 - Insurance Times April 2022

IRDAI

News

Debasish Panda appointed didates, FSRASC recommends the name IRDAI takes up legal re-
to the Appointments Committee of the
as new IRDAI Chief course issue with govt on
Cabinet, headed by Prime Minister
The government has appointed former Narendra Modi, for its final approval. surety bond business
financial services secretary Debasish
Panda as chairman of the Insurance Prior to elevation as financial services IRDAIhas taken up the issue of insurers
secretary, Mr. Panda served as addi- being treated at par with banks when
Regulatory and Development Author-
ity of India (IRDAI). tional secretary, looking after insurance it comes to recovery recourse available
and financial inclusion division. to them for the surety bond business
The Appointments Committee of the and the government has reacted posi-
Cabinet has approved Panda's appoint- He was also the government nominee tively to the concerns of the industry,
director on board of IRDAI and served
ment as chairperson of the insurance said TL Almelu, member, Non-Life,
on the boards of some public sector
regulator initially for a period of three IRDAI.
years from the assumption of charge, banks and insurance companies. Panda
was also on the board of the Reserve Speaking at a seminar organised by
sources said.
Bank of India (RBI). National Insurance Academy, Alamelu
Mr. Panda, a 1987-batch IAS officer of
During his stint in Uttar Pradesh, he was said, "Recently we had come with
the Uttar Pradesh cadre, retired as fi-
Principal Secretary, Home and Agricul- surety bond guidelines for which there
nancial services secretary in January is huge demand. However, we do un-
this year after a two-year stint. ture and Cooperation, Resident Com-
missioner and CEO of Greater Noida derstand the concerns raised by the in-
The appointment of the IRDAI chair- Authority. surers that they should have recourse
man comes nearly 9 months after the to recovery on par with the banks. This
vacancy was created following Subhash Mr. Panda also served as joint secre- aspect has been taken up with the gov-
Chandra Khuntia completing his term tary in the Ministry of Health and Fam- ernment and I can tell you that they
ily Welfare and Deputy Director (Admin-
in May last year. have reacted extremely positively on
istration), All India Institute of Medical
In April 2021, the finance ministry had Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. the issue of trying to keep insurers at
invited applications to replace Mr. par with banks in the IBC code."
Khuntia. IRDAI is entrusted with the task of pro-
tecting the interest of insurance policy- The general insurance companies are
As per the procedure for the appoint- holders and bringing about speedy and seeking changes in Indian Contract Act
ment of regulators, the name is sug- orderly growth of the insurance indus- and Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code
gested by the Financial Sector Regula- try (including annuity and superannua- (IBC) to bring surety bonds at par with
tory Appointments Search Committee tion payments), for the benefit of the bank guarantees when it comes to re-
(FSRASC) headed by the Cabinet Secre- common man and to provide long term course available to them in case of a
tary. funds for accelerating growth of the default.
Based on interaction with eligible can- economy. The finance minister in her Budget

8 The Insurance Times, April 2022