Insurance regulator IRDAI has issued a master circular on submission of returns for insurers, including foreign reinsurance branches (FRBs), on the 202 regulatory returns to be filed.
Superseding 10 circulars issued since 2014, the master circular lists the operational guidelines on the regulations issued post a comprehensive review of regulatory framework for the insurance sector.
As part of an exercise to move towards principle-based regulations, as many as 37 regulations pertaining to returns were consolidated by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India into seven, and an additional two new regulations were also notified, all of them effective from April 1, 2024.
While the review was aimed at facilitating a favourable environment for ease of doing business and reducing compliance burden, the master circular is being issued to create a single reference for all returns and harmonise the timelines for filing. It aims to consolidate relevant instructions for filing of these returns, wherever applicable, into a unified framework, IRDAI said.
Sixty regulatory returns required to be filed under these regulations/operational guidelines had been collated in one place and issued as a Master Circular on Submission of Returns. The circular also has a collection of 142 returns, required to be filed with IRDAI in different periodicities – quarterly, half-yearly and annual.