Page 85 - Life Insurance Today July - December 2020

Insurance Regulatory

and Development

News
News
News
Authority of IndiaNewsNews

Launch uniform life policy: Business Officer, Life Insurance, ance and describe benefits that do not
Policybazaar.com. match the policy provisions, the regu-
IRDAI to Insurers lator said in the draft Insurance Adver-
IRDAI directed all life insurers to come Just like the standard health insurance tisements and Disclosure Regulations,
out with a standard plan 'Saral Jeevan product 'Arogya Sanjeevani', the indi- 2020.
Bima' from January 1, 2021. vidual term life insurance product will
also be the same across all insurers. IRDAI is seeking to come out with new
The product will have the same fea- "For the first-time buyers of life insur- advertisement regulations and has in-
tures, benefits, inclusions and exclu- ance, the plan will be a boon since the vited comments from stakeholders on
sions across all life insurers though the product is the same, regardless of the the exposure draft.
prices may differ. The policy, which will insurance company offering it," he said.
be available for those in the age group The objective of the proposed regula-
of 18-65 years, will be for a term of 5 "We welcome the move of a standard tion, IRDAI said, is to ensure that the
to 40 years with a maximum maturity product that will surely help increase insurers, intermediaries or insurance
age of 70 years. The minimum sum the awareness of protection plans, es- intermediaries adopt fair, honest and
assured will be between Rs 5 lakh and pecially during these uncertain times. transparent practices while issuing
Rs 25 lakh. A product of this construct will also advertisements, and avoid practices
help in insurance penetration within
that tend to impair the confidence of
"There are many term products in the the country," said Bharat Kalsi, CFO, the public. Another objective of the
market with varying terms and condi- Bajaj Allianz Life. proposed regulation is to ensure that
tions. Customers who cannot devote the publicity material is relevant, fair
adequate time and energy to make IRDAI invites comments and in simple language, enabling in-
informed choices find it difficult to se- for amendments in insur- formed decision making.
lect the right product and products
may not be available for the intended ance advertisement regu- According to the draft, misleading ad-
sum assured," the regulator said. lations vertisements will also include those
"An important reason for introducing IRDAI has proposed to prohibit insur- which fail to disclose or disclose insuf-
a standard life insurance plan is that ers from issuing advertisements that ficiently important exclusions, limita-
the current life insurance products make claims which are beyond reason- tions and conditions of the contract.
available in the market are different able expectations of performance.
and quite complex, and it is difficult for The illustrations regarding future ben-
the common man to understand the The unfair and misleading advertise- efits on assumptions which are not re-
various inclusions and exclusions of the ments will include those which fail to alistic nor realisable in the light of the
plans," said Santosh Agarwal, Chief clearly identify the product as insur- insurer's current performance, or de-

"I glimpsed the butterfly which fitted about among the fake flowers of our curtains in its futile endeavor to suck the
nectar through its long proboscis. This butterfly reminded me of me"

Life Insurance Today July - December 2020 85