Page 9 - Insurance Times December 2022

Re and RR Singh, Director & General comfortable with IRDAI guidelines that Earlier, the government had said Di-
Manager, OIC, are two top contenders stipulate a five-year lock-in period for rectorate General of GST Intelligence,
for the OIC top post. private equity investors in the Indian Mumbai Zonal Unit initiated investiga-
insurance business. tions against 16 insurance companies
Piramal, Zurich Insurance on the issue of availment of ineligible
Insurers ask govt to sort input tax credit. Investigations by the
may bid separately for
unit revealed that input tax credit of
'GST evasion lapses'
RGIC Rs 824 crore has been availed, out of
Under pressure in the 'GST evasion' is-
Piramal Finance and Zurich Insurance which an amount of Rs 217 crore has
sue, the insurance industry has ap-
may not go ahead with a joint bid for been paid voluntarily by these 16 insur-
proached the government to sort out
Reliance General Insurance Company ance companies so far, a statement
the issue without burning its fingers.
(RGIC). According to sources, there is from the government said.
While a top representative team con-
a difference between the two sides on
sisting of some of the CEOs of leading
issues such as shareholders agreement
private sector general insurers have
and valuation. Attention Subscribers
already met Tarun Bajaj, retiring Rev-
In the first round, both companies had Please renew your Subscription of The
enue Secretary, Ministry of Finance
submitted separate non-binding bids Insurance Times Journal to receive
(MoF), the representatives of life insur-
for the general insurance business of copy of the journal uninterruptedly.
ers are planning to meet Bajaj's suc-
Reliance Capital. However, they were
cessor Sanjay Malhotra shortly after he
You can now pay by GPAY, Phonepe,
exploring a joint venture to place a
takes over his new job in December.
Paytm, Amazon, ICICI Pay, BHIM UPI
common bid.
While a section of insurance officials
Advent is also in the race to acquire claimed it was due to oversight on their
the insurance business of Reliance
part, the evasion issue has thrown light
Capital. In the first round, Advent had
into the murky dealings in the sector.
submitted the highest non-binding bid
These insurance companies have availed
of Rs. 7,000 crore, which was almost input tax credit on the basis of invoices
double the amount offered by two issued by several intermediaries for pro-
other bidders - Piramal and Zurich In-
viding services like advertising, market-
surance.
ing and brand activation whereas no
Sources said that Advent may not be such services had actually been provided.
Deposit claims of Rs. 8,517 crore settled
Deposit insurance is critical for protecting the interest of small bank deposi-
tors. In India, Deposit Insurance and Credit Guarantee Corporation (DICGC),
wholly owned by the RBI provides insurance cover to bank depositors.
According to the RBI's Annual Report 2021-22, going by the current deposit
insurance limit of Rs. 5 lakh, 257 crore accounts or almost 98% of the total
accounts were fully protected as of March-end 2022, compared to the in-
ternational benchmark of 80%. In terms of amount, however, the insured
deposits of Rs. 81.1 trillion accounted for 49% of the total deposits as of
March-end 2022 versus 20-30% internationally. You can also make payment for
The deposit insurance offered by DICGC covers all commercial banks includ- purchase of Books/Exam Guides
ing local area banks, payments banks, small finance banks, regional rural from www.sashipublications.com
banks and cooperative banks. The DICGC fund is available for settlement of through above QR Code
claims of depositors of banks gone into liquidation/ amalgamation and banks For any query please call
under RBI's all-inclusive direction (AID). Once AID is imposed on an urban
9073791022/9883398055
cooperative bank, the bank is restricted from discharging its liabilities ex-
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cept as permitted by RBI.
The Insurance Times December 2022 9