A majority of private insurers — life, general and standalone health — have decided to wait for IRDAI’s guidance on the implementation of the Supreme Court’s recent Aadhaar ruling as regards the insurance industry.
This is even as several top players including HDFC Life have stopped making submission of Aadhaar mandatory for new customers.
“IRDAI has, through its AML Master Circular, provided a list of acceptable Officially Valid Documents, which we were accepting even before the Supreme Court’s order and shall continue doing so,” an HDFC Life spokesperson told
Handling data
Several insurers said that clarity is required from the regulator on the ticklish issue of purging of Aadhaar-based authentication data already collected and available with the companies.
There is need for a call on whether companies would be allowed to voluntarily destroy data available with them or would have to wait until a customer demands its removal, they said.
Some insurers even felt that the jury is still out on whether or not the insurance industry fell under the controversial Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, 2016.
It may be recalled that the Supreme Court had on Wednesday struck down parts of Section 57 of the Aadhaar Act, thereby disallowing private agencies from authenticating people based on Aadhaar. While upholding Aadhaar’s constitutional validity, the SC ruling specifically mentioned that Aadhaar is not mandatory for opening a bank account or getting a mobile connection. However, there was no specific reference about private insurers and therefore IRDAI guidance is required on this, said the chief executive of an insurance company who sought anonymity.
All eyes on IRDAI
Tapan Singhel, Managing Director & CEO, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company, told BusinessLine that the Supreme Court judgment on Aadhaar is a progressive one. “However, further clarity is awaited from the IRDAI on the implementation of the same in the insurance industry.”
This judgment has retained the requirement of Aadhaar linking for government schemes, which will be beneficial for all the stakeholders, he said.
Antony Jacob, Chief Executive Officer, Apollo Munich Health Insurance, said it will await IRDAI guidance on the implementation of the SC ruling on Aadhaar.
Animesh Das, Head of Product Strategy, Acko General Insurance, an online player, said the company will wait for IRDAI’s view on asking for Aadhaar number from new customers and whether the data available with the company needs to be destroyed.
“Ideally, we may take a call to purge the data voluntarily for customers’ comfort,” he said.
An HDFC Life spokesperson said the company, based on the SC ruling and other clarificatory directives expected from the Government and the IRDAI, will take all necessary steps to ensure compliance with the statutory and regulatory provisions related to storage of Aadhaar-related information.