Insurance Business in India May Touch Rs 4 lakh cr in FY14: IRDA

Insurance watchdog IRDA said it estimates insurance business in India to touch Rs 4 lakh crore in current fiscal.

IRDA Chairman T S Vijayan also said the regulator is mulling to bring out norms for sub-brokers of insurance products. He, however, did not put any time frame for bringing out guidelines.

"October seems to be business is good for all companies, both life and non-life. Whole year there should be a good growth compared to last year. Last year industry has collected Rs 3.75 lakh crore," Vijayan said on the sidelines of a programme.

When asked if the business would touch Rs 4 lakh crore in the current fiscal, he said: "Anybody's guess. It will be somewhere around that (Rs 4 lakh crore)."

Insurance cover for company deposits?

In an attempt to safeguard investors from fraudulent money-collection schemes, the government has proposed mandatory insurance cover for public deposits garnered by companies and a penalty of up to 18% annual interest for defaulters, a report in The Times Of India said.

The premium of the deposit insurance c company deposits over would need to be paid by companies and a penalty at an annualised interest rate of 15% would be slapped on those which do not provide a deposit insurance to their depositors, the report added. The proposed measures, which form part of the draft rules for the new Companies Act, also bar the firms from promising huge returns and hefty agent commissions in excess of the prevailing rates prescribed by RBI for such deposits.