Insurance regulator IRDAI forms committee to vet licence applications

In the absence of a chairman for four months, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority ( IRDAI) Monday constituted a committee to review licence applications from two proposed general insurers, people familiar with the matter said.

The proposals are from a venture backed by the M Pallonji Group and another by the WestBridge Capital backed Kiwi General Insurance.

The panel, comprising IRDAI's member (life), member (non-Life), and member (actuary), was formed earlier Monday and would scrutinise the eligibility of both applicants, said the sources cited above.

This formation of the committee comes after delays in clearing a new insurance license since IRDAI chairman Debasish Panda's superannuation mid-March.

"R1 applications are usually approved at the chairman's level and are not formally taken up in authority meetings," said a source. "In the absence of a chairman, a committee has been set up to examine these proposals."