Vice-President calls for well regulated insurance

Hyderabad: Vice-President of India, M Venkaiah Naidu, has called for a well-regulated insurance sector in the country, while appreciating the role of Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) in framing guidelines for insurance companies.

Speaking at a valedictory session of fourth south Asian insurance regulatory meet and international conference here on Sunday, the Vice-President said: “Cyber security and cyber liability insurance have become extremely vital in the present times with cyber criminals increasingly hacking and stealing valuable and sensitive data, be it of organizations or individuals.”

Referring to some estimates that have put the global average cost of data breach in 2017 at $3.2 million and the average cost of each breached record is believed to be $141 for companies, Naidu said apparently, the challenges in cyber risk management would be quite different for insurers from those of normal businesses.

“It should be borne in mind by the insurance companies that data breaches can make small businesses go out of business. I am happy to note that the IRDA is playing a critical role in the orderly growth of the insurance industry by developing guidelines for insurance companies.

The market has to be well- regulated for sustainable growth. I am extremely pleased to dedicate this new state-of- the-art green IRDA building to the nation, which was constructed at an estimated cost of Rs165.73 crore.”

The Vice President further said the insurance industry in India was expected to grow to $280 billion by 2020 from $84.72 billion in 2017 as the country was poised for higher economic growth. Investments by insurance companies rose to Rs.30,76,537 cr in FY17 and over Rs.2.4 lakh cr was invested in infrastructure.