HDFC Life Insurance has applied to Insurance Regulatory Authority of India (IRDAI) for permission to enter the indemnity health insurance market, sources informed CNBC-TV18. Post IRDAI’s approval, the life insurance firm is likely to focus on critical illness products. Additionally, the company has written to the insurance regulator to allow them to distribute other financial products like mutual funds, loans and bank deposits.
Notably, the government has recently floated consultation paper on the issuance of composite insurance license. This would allow life insurers to enter general insurance market and vice versa. This proposal is likely to be taken up in Parliament this Budget session.
If the amendment to Insurance Act is approved by Parliament, insurers will be able to distribute other financial products soon.
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The Department of Financial Services has also suggested allowing insurers to operate in multiple lines of business — general, life, and health — without having to seek separate licences from the regulator for each business, provided they meet the minimum capital requirements. This would require an amendment to the Insurance Act, 1938.
Currently, insurers need separate licences for life, general and standalone health insurance business.
Meanwhile, CNBC-TV18 has written to HDFC Life on its letter to IRDAI. The response from the company is awaited.
