Clarifications on Guidelines on insurance e-commerce and electronic issuanc

To • ~,~ '>m:J111 il1!T f<IP.1111>1"1 afR N ~ ait1» INSURANCE REGULATORY AND ir.lai DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY OF INDIA CIRCULAR IRON BRK/ CIR/ INSRE/ 211/ 09/ 2017 y!h September, 2017 CEO's of all insurers, insurance intermediaries and Insurance Repositories Re: Clarifications on a) revised guidelines on Insurance Repositories and electronic issuance of insurance policies dated 29.05.2015 b) Guidelines on insurance e-commerce dated 9th March, 2017 The Authority as part of its developmental mandate and to reach out to the policyholders in a cost efficient manner has taken number of steps. This includes issuing revised guidelines on insurance repositories, insurance e-commerce, issuance of electronic insurance policies, maintenance of electronic records, etc. The Authority has been approached by various stakeholders seeking clarity on some of the. issues surrounding these guidelines. Looking into the issues raised by the stakeholders the Authority issues the following clarifications pertaining to revised guidelines on Insurance Repositories and electronic issuance of insurance policies dated 29.05.2015. I. Revised guidelines on Insurance Repositories and electronic issuance of insurance policies dated 29.05.2015 1. Electronic signature - Clause 60(b) and Annexure 11 of the revised guidelines on Insurance Repositories and electronic issuance of insurance policies dated 29.05.2015 gives the form for opening of elA account. This form is to be signed by the applicant at the time of opening of elA. As per current practise, an e-signature of the elA holder on the application form for opening an elA is considered as a valid authentication. However the IRDAI (issuance of e-lnsurance policies) (First Amendment) Regulations, 2016 dated 2nd December, 2016 provides an option of validation by 'One Time Password' for electronic signature on e- im~ 'l,rR, almT mil, <l~m.wl, ~- 500 004. ~ \vv 6): +91-40-233811001300, m = +91-40-6682 3334 ffi& : www.irdai.gov.in Parisharam Bhavan, 3rd Floor, Basheer Bagh, Hyderabad - 500 004. India. Q) : +91-40-23381100/300, Fax : +91-40-6682 3334 Website : www.irdai.gov.in proposal form. Therefore in order to facilitate opening of e-insurance account through online/ electronic means, the Authority permits validation by 'One Time Password' for elA opening as an alternative to e-signature under clause 60(b) and Annexure 11 of the revised guidelines on Insurance Repositories and electronic issuance of insurance policies dated 29.05.2015. 2. One Time Password (OTP) based e-KYC for opening of e-lnsurance Account (elA) - Attention is drawn to Guidelines on Insurance e-commerce dated March 9, 2017 which requires insurance policies to be issued in electronic form and credited to e-lnsurance Account (elA) of the policy holder. This requires Insurance Repositories to facilitate online opening of elA using valid KYC document. Clause 15(10)(b) of the same guidelines dated March 9, 2017 stipulates compliance to the KYC/ AML guidelines by using any of the options given. In light of the above stipulation, the Authority substitutes the following for clause 22(d)(i) of the revised guidelines on Insurance Repositories and electronic issuance of insurance policies dated 29.05.2015 for opening of an elA: (i) Compliance to the KYC/ AML guidelines issued by the Authority can be undertaken by any of the following facilities: a) e-KYC facility offered by UIDAI as given in Authority's circular no. /ROAi SOD/ CIR/ MISC/ 204/ 08/ 2017 dated 31st August, 2017. b) valid KYC documents permitted under Authority's circular no. /ROAi SOD/ GOU CIR/ 175109/ Oct/ 2015 dated 28th September, 2015 or by any other circular issued by the Authority from time to time. c) any other facility recognised by the Authority. 3. Email Id / Mobile Number - Clause 15(11) (b) of the Guidelines on Insurance e- commerce dated March 9, 2017 requires creation of elA and gives option to customer to provide either an email id or mobile number. As per Annexure - 5, Clause 4 (b) of revised guidelines on Insurance Repositories and electronic issuance of insurance policies dated 29.05.2015, email id and mobile number are both mandatory to open elA as Insurance Repository is required to send OTP1 on the registered email id and OTP2 on the registered mobile number of the elA holder. In order to bring consistency between the two guidelines, the Authority allows opening of elA on the basis of either email id or mobile number with only one OTP being sent to email id/ mobile number. l'V II. Guidelines on insurance e-commerce dated 9th March, 2017 4. Clause 15(1 O)(b)(ii) recognises e-PAN facility offered by NSDL for compliance to the KYC/ AML guidelines issued by the Authority. The same is deleted as it is not one of the recognised mode for KYC/ AML compliance. 5. Clause 15(11 )(a) of the Guidelines on insurance e-commerce dated March 9, 2017 stipulates that creation of an e-insurance account shall be undertaken within 15 days post selling of insurance policies on the applicant's ISNP. There are varied interpretations in the market about the said clause. It is hereby clarified that opening of e-insurance account for all policies that are sold on the ISNP Platform has to be necessarily and compulsorily followed up with opening of an e-insurance account within 15 days post selling of insurance policies. Any non-compliance will be seen as a violation of the aforesaid guidelines. ~ t,111 Member (Non-Life)