Irdai will set timeline for LIC to scale-down stake to 15% in IDBI Bank

Insurance regulator Irdai will set a timeline for the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) on how it must go about reducing its stakeholding from 51 per cent to 15 per cent eventually in IDBI Bank, said Subhash Khuntia, Chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai). He did not specify when the regulator will announce the timeline.

Once the proposed acquisition of the bank is completed in the coming months, the insurance regulator will provide a timeline for LIC to scale-down its holding in the bank back to 15 per cent.

LIC currently has a 7.98 per cent stake in IDBI Bank with the Government holding standing at 85.96 per cent. The life insurer wishes to increase its stakeholding in the Bank, given its network and institutional strength, at an investment of around Rs 100-130 billion.

The company will receive promoter status and management control post-acquisition.

IRDAI delists 10 medical treatments for health cover from optional list

The insurance regulator, in a circular on Monday, delisted 10 specific medical treatments from its list of optional covers, that can be offered by health insurance companies.

Through its guidelines on the standardisation of health insurance, the Insurance and Regulatory Authority of India (IRDAI) lists various medical procedures, medical equipment like alcohol swabs and administrative charges amongst others, that can be offered as part of a health insurance policy.

Health insurance companies have the option to offer customers a cover for the items or procedures listed in chapter 3 of the guidelines. These are part of the ‘non-payable’ aspects of a standard health insurance policy.

Health insurance policies mainly cover hospitalisation charges, while the costs of other treatments and ancillary equipment have to be borne by the customer or policyholder themselves.