IRDAI Floats Draft Regulations For Insurance Electronic Marketplace Bima Sugam

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has issued draft regulations on the much-awaited electronic insurance marketplace Bima Sugam or a digital public infrastructure.

Bima Sugam serves as a one-stop solution for all insurance stakeholders, including customers, insurers, intermediaries, or insurance agents. It aims to promote transparency, efficiency, collaboration across the entire insurance value chain, technological innovation in the insurance sector, and the universalisation and democratisation of insurance to achieve the vision of “Insurance for all by 2047”.

The deadline for submitting comments or suggestions on the proposed norms is set for March 4.

Bima Sugam seeks to empower and protect the interest of policyholders, increase insurance penetration and enhance availability, accessibility and affordability.

As per the IRDA draft, Bima Sugam will be established under Section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013, as a not-for-profit company. Shareholding of the company will be widely held amongst life, general and health insurers, with no single entity having a controlling stake. 

Further, the regulator will nominate two members to the company’s board, which will appoint chairperson and chief executive officer with prior regulatory approval and also constitute a risk management committee.

In March last year, the IRDAI directed insurance companies to create social media guidelines for their employees as part of the revised Information and Cyber Security Guidelines for 2023. IRDAI has issued detailed regulations on the use of social media by insurance personnel, affecting various insurtech startups in India, including ACKO, Go Digit, Plum, InsuranceDekho, and others.