IRDAI extends online policies issue

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has allowed health and general insurance companies to continue issuing health insurance policies in electronic form and without insisting on a physically signed proposal form till March 31, 2022.

Due to the restrictions imposed by the lockdown, many consumers were finding it difficult to buy new health insurance policies during the pandemic. To remove this hurdle in getting new policies, the insurance regulator had allowed health and general insurance companies to get the policyholders’ consent through electronic or digital mode on September 10, 2020.

Initially, the exemption for wet signature on the hard copy of an insurance policy was valid till March 31, 2021, however, in the wake of the second wave of the pandemic, IRDAI extended it till September 30, 2021. However, with the pandemic still prevalent in many parts of the country, the regular has extended the exemption till March 31, 2022, according to a report by the Economic Times.

IRDAI made the latest extension announcement via a circular that stated: “In view of the continuing situation of Covid-19 pandemic, in partial modification of Clause No. 5 of the within referred circular dated 10th September 2020 the timelines for (a) Issuance of electronic policies and (b) dispensing with physical signatures and wet signature on the proposal form in respect of health insurance policies, stand extended up to 31st March, 2022.”