annual report 2008-09 - IRDA

ANNUAL REPORT 2008-09
Setting up of ‘Insurance Information Bureau’ (IIB) at
Hyderabad:
The activity of setting up of the data centre the
proposed IIB has already been completed during this
year and all the ‘data collection and compilation
activities’ carried out at TAC have been seamlessly
transferred to IRDA, Hyderabad. The new data center
is also in the process of initiating many IT projects for
the benefit of the insurance industry.
Development of Integrated Grievances Management
System:
In order to improve the current grievance redressal
procedure in the insurance sector, IRDA has initiated
the process of development of Integrated Grievance
Management System (IGMS).
The proposed online IGMS will be capable of capturing
all the complaints across the registered insurers,
allowing policyholders to register and view the
complaints made against the insurance entities. IGMS
not only provides a centralized access to the
policyholder but also facilitates access and control to
IRDA for monitoring the grievance redressal
procedure. The proposed online IGMS would thus
cater to IRDA’s objective of :
• Ensuring fair treatment to policyholders and
protecting their interests.
• Ensuring speedy settlement of genuine claims,
and putting in place, effective grievance redressal
mechanism.
Authority has already initiated process of developing
the functional requirements specifications for the
IGMS.
Revamping of Agency Licensing Portal:
Authority has an Agency Licensing Portal
(www.irdaonline.org) developed for the purpose of
issue of licences to the insurance agents. The portal
has been operational since 2000. There are 42
insurance companies and 500 Designated Persons
(DPs) who are using this application as on date. So
far 4 million licences have been issued and an average
of 3000 licences is issued every day through this portal
application. Authority felt necessary to revamp the
present portal so that it could widen the scope of agent
application integrating the various stakeholders with
this system namely insurers, Agent Training Institutes
and Examination Bodies. The portal is being designed
by making use of web technology and utilizes the
interactive technological potential of the web and the
Internet. IRDA has also planned to set up a Disaster
Recovery site for the new agency portal in order to
ensure business continuity in case of failure of primary
site.
IT infrastructure:
IT infrastructure facilities have been significantly
enhanced in order to cater to the growing needs of
the organization.
VI. Accounts
The Accounts of the Authority for 2008-09 have been
audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General of
India (C&AG). Pursuant to the provisions of Section
17 of IRDA Act, 1999, the Audited accounts along with
the Audit Report have been forwarded to the
Government of India. A copy of the accounts for 2008-
09 is placed at Annexure X.
VII. ISO 2000 Registration
As in the past, a surveillance audit was conducted in
2008-09 to ensure maintenance of the Authority’s
quality standards under certification by ISO 9001-
2000.
VIII. IRDA Journal
With the November 2009 issue, IRDA Journal, the
monthly publication of the Authority, completed seven
years. The Journal has been recognized for coming
out with quality articles/ inputs on various issues
associated with the industry. The Journal has been
accepted as a source of information – for articles of
interest; for research papers; for information about the
industry on circulars, notices etc; and for the business
data of the industry. The web copy of the Journal
continues to be the source for an increasing number
of readers and the demand for the hard copy of the
Journal has been growing perennially.
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