The post was lying vacant for the past 16 months since the retirement of S Roy Chowdhury in February 2014.
When contacted, Sathe confirmed taking over the new assignment.
The Centre appointed Sathe, who earlier worked as Chief Executive Officer of LIC Nomura Mutual Fund Asset Management Company, to the post on June 12.
So far, all the members in the non-life insurance area at the Hyderabad-based watchdog have been recruited from Life Insurance Corporation, where Sathe, too, had a long stint.