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Title: Exposure Draft
Reference No.: --
Date: 22/09/2015
IRDAI (Inspection and Fee for Supply of Copies) Regulations, 2015
Background to the Regulations
1. Prior to amendment by Insurance Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, section 20 (1) and 20 (3) of the Insurance Act 1938 read as under:
“20 (1) Every return furnished to the Authority or a certified copy thereof shall be kept by the Authority and shall be open to inspection, and any person may procure a copy of any such return, or of any part thereof, on payment of a fee of six annas for every hundred words or fractional part thereof required to be copied and any five figures being deemed equivalent to one word.
20 (3) A copy of the memorandum and articles of association of the insurer, if a company shall on the application of any policy-holder, be supplied to him by the Insurer on payment of one rupee.”
2. It can be seen that the fees, though archaic now, was prescribed by the statute itself.
3. The following changes have been made in the Section 20 (1) and 20 (3) through the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Act, 2015
Section 20 (1) has substituted with the following section:
20. (1) Every return furnished to the Authority or certified copy thereof shall be kept by the Authority and shall be open to inspection; and any person may procure a copy of any such return, or of any part thereof, on payment of such fee as may be specified by the regulations.
In Section 20 (3), for the words one rupee, the words such fee as may be specified by the regulations has been be substituted. The amended section reads as follows:
20 (3) A copy of the memorandum and articles of association of the insurer, if a company, shall, on the application of any policy-holder, be supplied to him by the Insurer on payment of such fee as may be prescribed by regulations.”
4. It is clear from the amended section that -
i) Every return furnished to the Authority or certified copy thereof must be kept by the Authority and made available for inspection.
ii) For inspection, no fee is payable. However, for obtaining a copy, fee can be levied.
iii) The fees to be paid by any person for procuring a copy of such returns or any part thereof are to be prescribed by the Authority through regulations.
iv) The Authority cannot keep any return confidential and closed to inspection or refuse to furnish a copy of any return to any person, if the prescribed fee is paid.
v) A Memorandum and articles of association of an insurer can be requested for by a policyholder.
vi) An application has to be received from the policyholder.
vii) The fees to be paid by the policyholder to insurer for procuring a copy of memorandum and articles of association have to be prescribed by the Authority through regulations.
viii) The other wordings of the section remain unchanged.
5. Since, the Authority has been given the power to formulate regulations for prescribing the fee in this regard, IRDAI is now proposing to issue these regulations.
Cost Benefit Analysis of the proposed Regulations
6. The cost-benefit in terms of these regulations can be seen directly and quantitatively. Any person who desires to have the benefit of a copy of the return for whatever purposes has to pay a cost for obtaining the same as there are administrative costs involved in storing, retrieving and furnishing copies of documents relating to the returns. The fee so prescribed should not only be in tune with current times but be not so high that it would deter someone from seeking a copy of the return. The fee should also prevent frivolous requests for copies of returns. The amount of six annas and one rupee, as contained in Section 20 (1) and 20 (3) respectively of the Act prior to Amendment, is thoroughly inadequate and will have to be adjusted to today’s cost and value of money. Further, for keeping the amount of fee flexible, leaving it to the Authority to specify the same through regulations is more appropriate than stipulating the same through statute, as any change in the statute requires an amendment, which is a long drawn process as compared to modifying regulations.
7. Keeping in view the above, the Authority proposes to issue the Regulations titled “Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Inspection and Fee for Supply of Copies) Regulations, 2015”.
8. The regulations now made cover the following aspects as compared to the provisions of the Act:
· Doing away with the fee on the basis of count of words
· Requirement for an application and to whom it should be sent
· Specifying fee for physical copy and electronic copy.
· Specifying mode of payment of fee
· Incorporating time line for furnishing for inspection or furnishing copy
· Providing for a mechanism of examination through a Committee constituted by the Chairperson of IRDAI about whether the disclosure of the information in the return is not barred by any other law for the time being in force (especially relating to the provisions of Right to Information Act)
9. Comments / suggestions on the proposed regulations may kindly be sent for consideration by 5th October, 2015 in the format (Annexure I) attached to gmallikarjun at irda dot gov dot in or bjhansree at irda dot gov dot in by e-mail.
(H. Ananthakrishnan)
JD (Legal)
