Indian insurance regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has decided to fight against mis-selling by educating insurance agents through a training project.
The incidences of mis-selling have grown, particularly after the emergence of unit-linked insurance policies. During the financial year 2011-12, the regulator received 1 lakh complaints on mis-selling.
HDFC Standard cmanaging director and CEO Amitabh Chaudhry was quoted by livemint.com as saying that today, a lot of mis-selling happens due to topline (revenue) pressures on companies.
"There has to be a policy level change to ensure that agents who cross a certain level of mis-selling are not hired by any other insurance firm," Chaudhry added.
As per the plan, the regulator will provide training to the country's 2.5 million insurance agents subject to their clearance of agent license.
The training syllabus may include tips on how to stop mis-selling apart from selling unfair insurance schemes to earn commissions, while the National Skill Development (NSDC) may be roped in for training.
The training project is expected to begin will be rolled out by the end of 2013. About one million agents will be trained under the first batch.
India has about 24 life and 27 general insurers, with government-backed LIC owning majority share.
