The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has approved multiple insurance regulations and amendments at its 137th meeting held on 28 July 2026. According to the meeting minutes, the Authority approved the IRDAI (Policyholders' Education and Protection Fund) Regulations, 2026, establishing the governance, funding and utilisation framework for the Policyholders' Education and Protection Fund under the Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha (Amendments to Insurance Laws) Act, 2025. The approved agenda also included the IRDAI (Manner and Procedure for imposition of penalties) Regulations, 2026, along with amendments relating to actuarial, finance and investment functions, registration, capital structure, transfer of shares and amalgamation of insurers, third party administrators, insurance intermediaries, and insurance surveyors and loss assessors. The amendments are stated to align the regulatory framework with the SBSR Act, 2025, support ease of doing business, simplify regulatory processes, reduce compliance costs, improve operational clarity, and strengthen regulatory oversight.
Insurance regulator IRDAI's chairman Ajay Seth has proposed creating a public register that would trace every insurance policy to the individual seller, not merely to the bank or broking firm. According to reports from The Economic Times, this proposal was made at the silver jubilee gathering of the insurance brokers' association in Delhi last week. The register would allow identification of sellers who make unsuitable recommendations, with their records following them from one employer to the next. As per Mint, this proposal is described as "hard to argue against" and represents the beginning of real accountability in the insurance sector.
The proposal comes as more than one in five complaints against life insurers now concerns the way a policy was sold. As reported by The Economic Times, this represents a systemic problem rather than isolated incidents. According to Mint, when more than one in five complaints against life insurers now concerns the way a policy was sold, we're seeing a system that is working as it was designed. This is not a scattering of bad apples but the sound of the machine running normally, with the current distribution system rewarding volume over quality.
According to analysis from Mint, while a public register of insurance sellers sounds like the beginning of real accountability, it may not address the root cause of mis-selling. The report suggests that a database that records who did what costs the distribution business nothing because it threatens no existing stream of income. The more significant reform of cutting commissions that pay for bank counters and broker networks faces greater resistance. As noted by Mint, the problem is that the agent across from an insurance buyer is merely the executor of the incentive he answers to, while the blame lies with whoever set the target. The proposed seller tracking system may write down the name of the man at the desk but leaves blank the name of whoever decided the desk should push endowments.
The proposal has been well-received by industry stakeholders, with the insurance brokers' association supporting the initiative. However, as reported by The Economic Times, the success of these reforms will largely depend on whether the industry agrees to reduce commissions that currently drive the sales machine. According to Mint, the direction in which the money flows has always been a perfect predictor of outcomes, and the current system rewards volume over quality with unsuitable sales often being paid for rather than penalized by insurers.
