The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has issued today Guidelines to insurers in respect of design of products under Unit Linked Life Insurance Plans. The Guidelines are intended mainly to ensure that they lead to greater transparency and understanding of these products to the insured, since, the investment risk is borne by the policyholders. The Guidelines concurrently envisage extension of minimum insurance cover to be offered under the products (with exceptions in respect of the pension and the annuity products) and certain prudent practices on other features of ULIP products like partial withdrawals, top-up premiums, etc., to meet the objective of greater flexibility and long term protection to the insured. The Guidelines define the nomenclature of various charges and how they are to be levied, so that the customers are clearly aware of various charges under the product and are apprised of the unit prices on a daily basis. For more details, the IRDA’s website may be consulted at www.irdaindia.org. (C. R. MURALIDHARAN)
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