Detariffisation must to push reform; Bill in winter session

Hyderabad, Nov 3 (UNI) Expressing dismay at low penetration, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram today said a consolidated Insurance Bill inclusive of detariffisation would be introduced in the Winter Session of Parliament to accelerate reforms in the vital sector.

The Bill, attempting to bring insurance laws abreast of world trends, would encompass the outdated Insurance Law of 1938, LIC Act, 1956 and IRDA Act of 1999 to remove hurdles, Mr Chidambaram said, launching the Vidyarthi Mediclaim and Parivar Mediclaim policies of the public sector National Insurance Company Ltd here.

The Bill was ready and likely to be introduced in the fag end of the coming winter session and had been whetted by the IRDA, he said in a brief interaction with the media after the launch.

He used the platform to caution opponents and critics of reforms in the insurance sector that government was willing for a debate but not an endless one. It was determined to bring in reforms to move with the rest of the world, which had adopted detarrifisation.

The IRDA, which was bracing for the move, would provide adequate safeguards so that neither insurance companies, private players planning to enter the industry or the insured were hurt.

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