Indian insurance regulator has extended the ambit of 'Use and File' procedure to products covering agriculture and allied activities, a press release issued by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) said on Thursday.
The move is aimed at improving ease of doing business and protecting the interst of those who are involved in agricultiral or allied activities.
"Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) in its continued endeavor to protect the interests of all segments of policyholders and improve the ease of doing business has now extended the ‘Use and File’ procedure to products covering Agriculture and allied activities," the IRDAI release said.
Agriculture and allied activities constitutes one of the largest sources of livelihood in India, the release said.
"The adverse impact of natural catastrophes on the vulnerable segments of society is enormous and underlines the need to design and offer suitable insurance products for their protection. This move will facilitate the insurance companies to design and launch innovative products for these segments in a timely manner and expand the choices available to the policyholders," the release said.
The insurance watchdog had on 10 June extended the ‘Use and File’ procedure for most of the Life Insurance products taking forward its reform agenda.
This means now the life insurance companies can also launch these products without prior approval of IRDAI. This came on the heels of similar relaxations extended to all the Health Insurance products and almost all the General Insurance products by IRDAI through its circular issued on 1 June 2022.
Earlier, it was made mandatory for the insurance companies to take prior approval before launching any life insurance product. The IRDAI's relaxation comes as the regulator now opines that the industry is more mature now and it was “envisaged that necessary relaxations may be allowed