IRDAI Slams Oriental Insurance For Disguising Commissions

The the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) has continued its crackdown on the industry practice of paying higher commission to distributors for motor insurance.

It has pulled up the state-owned Oriental Insurance Company for disguising commissions in 2016-17, after it penalized several insurance brokers linked to auto dealerships.

It has noted that Oriental had paid Rs 137 crore to motor dealers, but listed it as “infrastructure expenses”. Further, payouts of Rs 85 crore to agents were reported as “operating expenses”.

Oriental responded stating that it will not refer to commissions or payouts by “generic references” in its financial reports for FY20 and will restate its financials for FY17 and FY18, if needed.

The IRDAI stated that Oriental had violated its Guidelines for Corporate Governance for Insurers in India, 2016 and IRDAI Regulations, 2002.

IRDAI criticized Oriental for gaps in its internal controls, delay in submission of financial information and lack of segment reporting. It also reprimanded Oriental for not reconciling running balances in inter-office balances.

Oriental responded that most of the balances have been reconciled and the remainder will be done by March 2020, adding that it would also review its internal audit system.