A small step by IRDAI. A giant leap for senior citizens.
India’s insurance regulator – IRDAI- recently moved to do away with restrictions on purchase of health insurance by people above 65 years. The move has created quite a buzz.

First-year premium of life insurers up 2 pc at ₹3,77,960 cr in FY24: IRDAI
Hyderabad: The first-year premium or new business premium of life insurers increased 2 per cent to ₹3,77,960 crore in the financial year ended March 31, 2024, compared with ₹3,70,543 crore in the previous financial year. As per the data of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), Life Insurance Corporation’s (LIC) first year premium declined 4 per cent to ₹2,22,522 crore against ₹2,31,899 crore in the previous financial year. It witnessed decrease in segments of individual single premium, individual non-single premium, group single premium and group non-single premium

ICICI Prudential Q4 Results: Net profit drops 26% YoY to Rs 174 crore, net premium income up 17%
Source Credit: Akash Podishetti, The Economic Times

Health cover for senior citizens: General insurers gearing up to bring in new products
Hyderabad: The general insurance industry is gearing up to bring in new products in line with the insurance regulator’s decision to remove the upper age limit of 65 years for health insurance policies.  The insurance regulator had already notified the change in the norms, which came into effect from April 1, 2024 and advised the insurers to to design products specifically for senior citizens along with students, children, maternity and other groups

IRDA’s reforms on health insurance need follow up
After recently dialling back reforms in surrender charges for life insurance plans, it is good to see the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA) take the side of the consumer in its recent regulations governing health insurance. IRDA’s new Insurance Products Regulations 2024 require insurers to make two key changes to their health insurance products. One, the maximum waiting period that insurers may impose on claims relating to pre-existing diseases (PED) will now be 36 months instead of 48 months. As most of the health complications that insurance buyers face are likely to be related to PED, the shorter this waiting period the better. Two, IRDA has asked insurers to ensure that they offer health insurance products to ‘cater to all age groups’. This replaces an earlier provision that health policies must provide for an entry age of ‘at least 65 years.’ IRDA’s intent seems to be to make sure that senior citizens are not denied health insurance at a life stage when they need it the most.

Health insurance may cover all over 70
 

Pension regulator shortlists four bidders for digitisation project
Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority (PFRDA) has shortlisted four bidders for technical evaluation to select a system integrator (SI) for its digital platform PFRDA-TRACE. The four chosen bidders are Bahwan Cybertek; Inspira Enterprise India; NEC Corporation India; and Trigyn Technologies, sources said.

How new KYC norms have impacted MF investors
The recent Linkedin post by Himanshu Pandya, a registered investment adviser, said it all. He wrote, “Happy to inform you that I have successfully updated my KYC for the 18th time in my rather short adult life.” The latest KYC (know your client) update that Pandya highlighted pertains to his mutual fund account. Mutual funds have been asking investors to update their KYC with officially valid documents (OVDs), mainly Aadhaar, by 1 April to meet regulatory requirements. And, those unaware of the new KYC norms are being denied their upcoming investments.

Mirae Asset Mutual Fund tells investors to be careful of buying overseas ETFs on exchange
Mirae Asset Mutual Fund has cautioned retail investors against investing in overseas exchange traded funds (ETFs) through the stock market.

Physical Gold vs Gold Mutual Funds: Which is more efficient?
Indian households often hold gold as an asset class, passing it down from one generation to another as a symbol of wealth and heritage in India. There are many stories relating to gold and people love this metal as a jewellery more than just an asset.