MONEY
IRDAI proposes customer-centric insurance distribution, seeks to curb expenses
- IBJ Bureau
- Sep 24, 2026
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has proposed prohibiting ‘dark patterns’ on insurance websites, including practices that require customers to provide personal details to access product features and pricing information.
As a part of wide-ranging reforms aimed at making insurance distribution more transparent and customer-centric, the insurance sector regulator has issued a consultation paper, Recalibrating Economics of Insurance Distribution.
The consultation paper sets out a comprehensive framework of reforms covering insurance distribution, its structure, expenses, commissions, market conduct, transparency and leveraging digital infrastructure.
The IRDAI proposes to replace the existing complex and fragmented architecture with three broad categories of distribution entities: insurance distribution entities (IDEs), insurance distribution persons (IDPs) and market infrastructure institutions (MIIs).
The Expense of Management (EoM) framework is proposed to be recalibrated through lower limits with a phased glide path, the paper said.
For life insurers, the EoM limit would move to a company-level basis linked to gross direct premium income (GDPI), with the limit proposed at 15 within two years and 12.5 within five years.
“The proposed reduction in (the) EoM is intended to lower the overall cost of insurance, thereby expanding the risk pool available in general insurance and enhancing returns to policyholders in life savings products,” the paper has said.
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