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With several member posts falling vacant, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) is set to see a lot of changes in its top management.
Positions for whole-time members of non-life finance and investment and distribution are set to become vacant between March and July. The post of member, life, has been vacant since February last year.
"We are hopeful that the top-level Irdai executives would be appointed before the start of the next financial year," said the chief executive of a leading life insurance company. "Else, product approval as well as the formulation of regulations would be affect and the functioning of the industry would be hampered."
According to the Section 4 of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India Act, 1999, the regulatory body is composed of a 10-member team consisting of a chairman, five whole-time members and four part-time members.
All of them are appointed by the Government of India. Senior appointments, under the central government, require approval from the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC).
The position of member, distribution, who is responsible for handling matters related to agents, intermediaries and their licensing requirements, was carved out in 2013 and D D Singh (former zonal manager at LIC) has been appointed for this post.
M Ramaprasad, the member (non-life) is retiring in May while the tenure of R K Nair, member (finance and investment), would end in March. Irdai's member (distribution) D D Singh will also retire in July on reaching 62.
If the replacements are not appointed on time, an extension could also be given to some officials including Nair. Sources said an extension could be given for another 18-24 months.
The position of member-life has been vacant since February last year. After S Roy Chowdhury retired nobody was appointed in this post, though the member-distribution is handling it for the time-being. While some interviews were conducted, no appointment has taken place.
After a long wait, Pournima Gupte took charge as member-actuary in January 2015. The position of member-actuary was lying vacant for almost four years. R Kannan, former member-actuary retired in early 2011. The government has invited applications for the appointment of whole-time members - life, non-life, and finance and investment.
Delay in appointment of members, say insurers, would delay the passing of important regulations that are on the anvil. Agent commissions and new regulatory structures are to be finalised by Irdai, where both member-life and member-distribution are to play a vital role.
Similarly, the final micro-insurance regulations are still to be passed where all members would decide on the new structure as also the Insurance Marketing Firm regulations where these firms would distribute insurance products. Final guidelines on banks as brokers is also awaited.
For the whole-time member in the non-life insurance area, the applicant should preferably have at least 25 years of experience in non-life insurance.
Here, a minimum of three years of experience at a senior level - not below the rank of a general manager of public sector non-life insurance company or its equivalent in other companies - is required.
They should also have a minimum two years of residual service with reference to the post of whole-time member in the Irdai as on the last day for receipt of applications, i.e. age should not exceed 60 years on that day. This is applicable for other whole-time members as well.
For the whole-time member in the life insurance area, the applicants are required to have at least 25 years of experience in life insurance with a minimum of three years of experience at a senior level not below the rank of an executive director in a public sector life insurance company or its equivalent in other companies.
Similarly, for the post of whole-time member in the area of finance and investment, the applicants should preferably have at least 25 years of experience in the area of finance and investment with a minimum of three years of experience at a senior level not below the rank of chief general manager of Reserve Bank of India or its equivalent in other financial institutions / regulatory bodies.
The whole-time members in the respective fields look into regulations pertaining to that area, as also violations committed by the companies. Product design is also looked into, by the respective whole-time member in life or non-life field.
The tenure of appointment to all three posts shall be five years from the date of joining office with a provision of reappointment subject to the maximum age of 62 years. The consolidated pay and allowances of the Whole-time Members shall be Rs 3.75 lakh per month without facility of house and car. The last day for applications is March 2.
