Now, life insurers can introduce products without Irdai's prior approval

Currently, all life insurance products and riders require prior approval of the insurance regulator before launch

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) has expanded the scope of ‘use & file procedure’ to most of the life insurance products, barring individual savings, individual pensions, and annuity products. This means life insurance companies can launch these products without prior approval of the insurance regulator.

Currently, all life insurance products and riders require Irdai’s prior approval before launch but some modifications are allowed to be carried out through “use & file” procedure.

The move is in line with the reform agenda of Irdai’s new Chairman Debashish Panda. In an interaction with industry players in early April,