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The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) will soon have two new members looking after the member (life) and member (non-life) portfolio.
While P J Joseph, the acting chairman and managing director of National Insurance as well as CMD of Agriculture Insurance Company, is the top contender for the post of member (non-life), a senior executive from Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is likely to be soon appointed as member (life).
Irdai has seen several top exits in few months. While the positions of whole-time members of non-life and finance & investment were vacant for the past two to three months, the post of member (life) has been lying vacant since February 2014. Member-distribution will also retire in July. Nine people including Joseph N Mohan from General Insurance Corporation, K Sanath Kumar from New India Assurance, P K Bhagat from Health Insurance TPA of India, apart from Insurance Infor-mation Bureau of India chief economic officer R Raghavan had appeared for an interview for the position of member (non-life).
Irdai officials said that LIC executive director Vipin Anand and LIC Nomura chief executive Nilesh Sathe were among those who appeared for the post of member (life). Malay Ghosh, who was earlier associated with Reliance Life, also appeared for the interview.
Vijayalakshmi R Iyer, chairperson and managing director of Bank of India, is top contender for the post of member (finance & investment). This post fell vacant in mid-March after R K Nair retired from the post. Interviews for this position have already been conducted. Iyer, who took over as chairperson and managing director of Bank of India on November 5, 2012, will retire this month.
Apart from Iyer, Reserve Bank of India's executive director K K Vohra and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation’s former head N Shankar also appeared for the interview that was held few weeks ago.
While several public sector general insurance general managers were contenders for the CMD post of National Insurance, Joseph was given the additional charge of it in March 2015.
This would mean that if he moves to IRDAI, two new individuals have to be appointed to these two public sector general insurers.
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) had been appointed for this maiden post. Singh had been handling the portfolio of member-life after S Roy Chowdhury retired from this post. M Ramaprasad, member (non-life) retired in May 2015.
However, sources said that Singh's post may lie vacant for some time since member-life and member non-life would look into distribution related issues in their particular segments. While there was also a call to have a member health since the insurance act has classified standalone health as a separate business, no final decision has been taken on it.
An applicant should have at least two years of service remaining for the positions of whole-time member in IRDAI as on the last day of receipt of applications and age should not exceed 60 years on that day. The interview panel is chaired by financial services secretary Hasmukh Adhia, IRDAI chairman T.S Vijayan and former head of LIC and Sebi G.N Bajpai,.
According to the section 4 of IRDA 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).
After a long wait, Pournima Gupte took charge as member-actuary at IRDAI in January 2015. The position of member-actuary at IRDAI had been lying vacant for almost four years. R Kannan, Former Member-actuary had retired in early 2011.
Delay in appointment of members would delay the passage of important regulations that are on the anvil, say insurers. Agent commissions and new regulatory structures are to be finalised by IRDAI where both member-life and member-distribution have to play a vital role among others.
While P J Joseph, the acting chairman and managing director of National Insurance as well as CMD of Agriculture Insurance Company, is the top contender for the post of member (non-life), a senior executive from Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) is likely to be soon appointed as member (life).
Irdai has seen several top exits in few months. While the positions of whole-time members of non-life and finance & investment were vacant for the past two to three months, the post of member (life) has been lying vacant since February 2014. Member-distribution will also retire in July. Nine people including Joseph N Mohan from General Insurance Corporation, K Sanath Kumar from New India Assurance, P K Bhagat from Health Insurance TPA of India, apart from Insurance Infor-mation Bureau of India chief economic officer R Raghavan had appeared for an interview for the position of member (non-life).
Irdai officials said that LIC executive director Vipin Anand and LIC Nomura chief executive Nilesh Sathe were among those who appeared for the post of member (life). Malay Ghosh, who was earlier associated with Reliance Life, also appeared for the interview.
Vijayalakshmi R Iyer, chairperson and managing director of Bank of India, is top contender for the post of member (finance & investment). This post fell vacant in mid-March after R K Nair retired from the post. Interviews for this position have already been conducted. Iyer, who took over as chairperson and managing director of Bank of India on November 5, 2012, will retire this month.
Apart from Iyer, Reserve Bank of India's executive director K K Vohra and Export Credit Guarantee Corporation’s former head N Shankar also appeared for the interview that was held few weeks ago.
While several public sector general insurance general managers were contenders for the CMD post of National Insurance, Joseph was given the additional charge of it in March 2015.
This would mean that if he moves to IRDAI, two new individuals have to be appointed to these two public sector general insurers.
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) had been appointed for this maiden post. Singh had been handling the portfolio of member-life after S Roy Chowdhury retired from this post. M Ramaprasad, member (non-life) retired in May 2015.
However, sources said that Singh's post may lie vacant for some time since member-life and member non-life would look into distribution related issues in their particular segments. While there was also a call to have a member health since the insurance act has classified standalone health as a separate business, no final decision has been taken on it.
An applicant should have at least two years of service remaining for the positions of whole-time member in IRDAI as on the last day of receipt of applications and age should not exceed 60 years on that day. The interview panel is chaired by financial services secretary Hasmukh Adhia, IRDAI chairman T.S Vijayan and former head of LIC and Sebi G.N Bajpai,.
According to the section 4 of IRDA 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).
After a long wait, Pournima Gupte took charge as member-actuary at IRDAI in January 2015. The position of member-actuary at IRDAI had been lying vacant for almost four years. R Kannan, Former Member-actuary had retired in early 2011.
Delay in appointment of members would delay the passage of important regulations that are on the anvil, say insurers. Agent commissions and new regulatory structures are to be finalised by IRDAI where both member-life and member-distribution have to play a vital role among others.
With the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Act being passed, Irdai is expected to bring out a slew of new regulations to complement and clarify various provisions related to foreign direct investment hike, expense management and agent remuneration. This would require deliberations among all the whole-time members in the regulatory body.
