The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has released a consultation paper regarding a Public Insurance Registry (PIR). The registry has been proposed to make the insurance ecosystem in the country more accessible and transparent.
IRDAI has said that the initiative could bring together technology, governance and market participation, and strengthen financial resilience.
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What Is The Public Insurance Registry?
The PIR has been conceptualised as Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) for the insurance sector.
It is intended to function as an innovation platform.
The registry will draw lessons from DPI initiatives in other sectors of the Indian economy, such as the JAM trinity (Jan-Dhan accounts, Aadhaar and mobile), Unified Payments Interface, DigiLocker, DigiYatra, PM GatiShakti, Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) and Co-WIN.
How Will The Public Insurance Registry Work?
The initiative proposes a consent-based, unified view of the insurance portfolio held by a person across insurers. This can help nominees and family members discover unclaimed insurance money and unknown policies.
Once a policyholder has completed KYC with one insurer, they would not need to submit the same information again while buying a new policy.
The PIR can help simplify the claims process as well. Once a death claim is processed by an insurer and reported to the registry after the claimant's consent, authorities can identify other policies in the name of the policyholder and prompt the insurers to initiate the claim process.
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If the policy number is not known, family members can use other details to search for unclaimed amounts.
Grievance filing and updating details such as a phone number, bank account or nominee details will become easier. The proposal may also have a "Know Your Agent" feature, using which policyholders could access an agent's or intermediary's track record to check customer complaints, sales quality and more.
What Happens Next For The Public Insurance Registry?
IRDAI has invited comments and feedback from stakeholders on its consultation paper by Sept. 30. The comments will help shape the proposed framework and determine how the registry can balance market efficiency, innovation, consumer protection, affordability and long-term financial sustainability.
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