Ex-Financial Services Secretary Panda takes over as IRDAI Chairman

One of the immediate tasks for Mr. Panda will be finalisation of the motor third party insurance premium revision

Former Financial Services Secretary Debasish Panda on Monday assumed office as Chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).

This follows the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet recently approving his name for the top post, which has been lying vacant after his predecessor Subhash C. Khuntia relinquished charge in May 2021 following a three-year term.

Mr. Panda is taking the helm at the insurance regulator as both life and health insurers emerge from the pandemic fallout, especially the high level of claims. With COVID-19 remaining a threat, the companies and the insured continue to look up to IRDAI for support.

The appointment of the 1987 batch Indian Administrative Service officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre also comes close on the heels of life insurance behemoth LIC filing papers with SEBI for an initial public offering. The Centre was widely expected to fill up the post in the run up to LIC seeking the insurance regulator’s approval ahead of the filing IPO.

However, there is little clarity on when the life insurance behemoth’s IPO, the biggest India has seen, will hit the market. One of the immediate tasks for the new IRDAI Chairman will be finalisation of the motor third party insurance premium revision, in coordination with the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways. A draft notification on the new rates was issued earlier this month by the Ministry, setting March 14 as the last date for stakeholders to respond.

The former Secretary to the Department of Financial Services, Ministry of Finance, where he superannuated on January 31, however, is not new to insurance, and IRDAI in particular, as he had served as part-time member of the regulator.