After a nearly 10-month wait, the post of chairman of India’s insurance regulator has been filled. The government has appointed Debasish Panda, former secretary, Department of Financial Services, to the top position of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) for three years.
After S C Khuntia demitted the Irdai chairman’s office in May 2021, the insurance regulator functioned without a chief. Part of this period coincided with the devastating second wave of the Covid pandemic, which resulted in a flurry of claims for both life and non-life insurers. Also, the initial public offering of insurance behemoth LIC was