The IRDAI, i.e., the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India, as per its regulations of 2015, has mandated the registration of Corporate Agents in the Insurance market. The said regulations become effective from April 1, 2016. Since then, multiple corporate agents have registered under the above-mentioned IRDA's provisions.
Who can become a Corporate Agent in India?Any existing business structure can become a Corporate Agent, such as
Types of Corporate Agents in IndiaThe Corporate Agents in India are broadly categorized into the following four types: Life Insurance Corporate Agent: A Life Insurance Agent can engage with three life insurers. They can solicit, procure and service their insurance products for policy pitching. General Insurance Corporate Agent: A General Insurance Agent can engage three general insurers simultaneously. They can also solicit, procure and service the corresponding insurance products. Health Insurance Corporate Agent: A Health Insurance Agent can engage with three health insurers at a time for solicitation, procurement, and service provisions regarding the health insurance products. Composite Corporate Agent: A Composite Agent can apply for any or all of the above-mentioned insurance products and services. If the Insurance Agent wants to reflect any change in its Business's nature, then it can do so with prior approval from the Authority. The Insurance Agent must make suitable arrangements for servicing existing policyholders. Are you eligible to become an Insurance Agent in India?Every Insurance Agent must fulfill the following conditions before applying for the Agent License registration with the IRDAI: Nature of the Business Any of the following entities can apply for its registration as a Corporate Agent in India:
The Insurance Agent applicant must build the required infrastructure to roll out their business activities. By infrastructure, we mean the following:
The principal officer of the Corporate Agent must be a graduate. He or She must have completed at least 50 hours of training from a recognized institution approved by the IRDAI. Code of Conduct The Corporate Agent License must strictly adhere to the IRDAI's set Codes of Conduct for the Insurance Agents. Also, every License firm executive must have a Fit and Proper certificate issued by a Competent Authority. Net worth Requirements The Insurance Agent applicant must maintain a minimum share capital of 50 Lakh rupees. How to register your Business as a Corporate Agent Firm in India?To register your Business as a licensed Corporate Agent Firm in India, the licensee must commit to the following steps:
Application Attachment for Corporate Agent Registration The applicant must submit the following documents with the registration application:
Licensing Fee for the Corporate Agent RegistrationPre-Registration Every Corporate Agent applicant must pay a non-refundable fee of ten thousand rupees plus applicable taxes for the license registration as well as renewal. The applicant must pay the fee in favor of the Insurance Regulator and Development Authority of India. The applicant can pay the fee through a recognized Electronic Funds Transfer to the IRDAI. The IRDAI will not entertain any application without the application fee. Post-Registration The newly registered Insurance Agent must, above all, pay an amount of 25 thousand rupees plus applicable taxes within 15 days of the license registration. In addition, after receiving this post-registration fee, the Authority will grant you the registration certificate to act as a Corporate Agent under your chosen Insurance category. Renewal Fee Upon its license expiry, an Agent can apply for license renewal by filing an application for renewal in the prescribed format. Along with the renewal applicant, the applicant must also pay a fee of 25 thousand rupees to the Regulating Authority. What is the validity of the Agent License?The Registration Certificate of a licensed Corporate Agent is valid for three years. The validity is noted from the date of its issue of the License. However, if, in any case, the Authority chooses to revoke or cancel the License of the Corporate Agent, then the License will be expired before its validity expires. Unregistered Agent: What can go wrong?If a business is impersonating as an Agent without holding a valid Agent license, then the Regulating Authority will penalize the business under the Criminal Act and related Laws against such violations. The director, manager's secretary, or other officers of the Corporate body and its Partner will also be penalized in a court of law. IRDA’s Corporate Agent CompliancesEvery licensed Agent is permitted to solicit as well as service insurance business as per the set regulations of the IRDAI. He or She must comply with the provisions of the following:
An Agent must inform the Authority in writing if any particulars submitted by them to the Authority are false or misleading and also file the application for the correction with the Authority. Redressal of Grievances The Agent must take adequate steps to redress grievances for the clients. Also, the redressal must be resolved within 14 days of such a complaint’s receipt. Also, the Authority instructs the Agent to submit the number, nature, and other particulars of the complaints received by him to the Authority in the prescribed format. The Agent can only solicit as well as procure a reasonable number of insurance policies. They must commensurate with their resources as per the number of specified persons they employ. Insurance Policy Recordkeeping A licensed Corporate Agent must maintain records to capture the policy-wise as well as the person-wise details of the sold insurance. Every policy solicited by the Agent must be tagged to the person. The exception is the simple products sold over the counter and approved by the Regulating Authority. FAQsQ1. What is Corporate Agent in Insurance? A corporate Agent is a person or a business entity who will market and pitch the Insurance products and services of its clients, i.e., Insurers, to the potential consumers. An Agent is a broker working for Insurance Companies. Q2. How to become a Corporate Insurance Agent? You can become an Agent in India by filing for Corporate Agent license registration with the IRDAI. If you want the registration procedure, you can refer to this article’s section, “How to register your Business as a Corporate Agent Firm in India?”. Q3. Can you share some of the Corporate Agent regulations issued by the IRDAI? In this article, we have detailed the Agents' compliances issued by the IRDAI in the “IRDA Corporate Agent Compliances” section. Q4. What are the different IRDA Corporate Agent registration fees? A. There are majorly three types of licensing fee requirements for the license registration enlisted in the following points:
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A Society is an association of more than two people who come together to take part in charitable activities for the society. You can refer to society as a Non-Profit Organization. But to get the benefits of such an association, you must get Society Registration for your association. A Society or, more properly, a Cooperative Society Registration is done cooperatively exclusively for non-profit purposes.
Society Registration: Purposes These societies are registered to advance charitable activities like sports, art, culture, music, religion, education, etc. Therefore, the following can be the purpose of online Society registration: Fine Arts Promotion You can register a new society to promote regional fine arts in the country. Lost folk arts are the cultural heritage of this country. Political Education Promotion Sometimes, members registers for a Society online if they want to diffuse some political education exclusively about a political ideology. Grant of Charitable Assistance The common reason to register a society is to help people. So, most online society registration applications are about granting charitable assistance to the needful. Science & Literature Promotion Certain association opts for a cooperative society registration certificate to create an education center to educate youth in sciences as well as literature. Funding for Military Orphans Certain cooperative bodies exist to cater to the needs of orphaned military families in India. So, such bodies opt to register as a society to help the military families. Foundation & Maintenance of Galleries In some instances, the Registration of a Cooperative happens for the creation of a body that watches over art galleries and such. These bodies are not particularly incorporated for social welfare. But societies are granted Cooperative registration certificates in India. Foundation and Maintenance for Libraries Some members stablish their societies to oversee library functions and management in a city or a district. Specialized Classes for Students Certain schools establish cooperative societies by getting an associate certificate for running specialized classes for the needful students. Natural History Collections There are many localities in India where online cooperative society creates a body that maintains and operates historical collections. Mechanical and other Inventions Collections The MCA incorporate certain societal associations in the country to provide authenticity and maintenance services for Indian-borne inventions. The MCA governs these societies under the Society Registration Act of 1860. Society Firm Registration: Benefits The Delhi Society Registration Act, a part of the Indian Society’s Act of 1860, clearly laid out the registration process in the country. The registration has the following benefits: Easy to purchase Estates When you acquire the society registration certificate and incorporate the association, you commence the operations of an NPO who can purchase property without any of the laborious compliances. Provisions for Actions against Defaulters Incorporating a cooperative society is like creating a separate legal entity. All separate entities – such as a company or a society- have the legal authenticity to file a lawsuit against anyone. Tax Exemptions A society can avail of many tax exemptions from the Government. If your society obtains the social welfare society registration certificate, then the Government can exempt it from paying taxes. But the society must acquire the 12A registration. Fewer Liabilities Also, registering a Society in India creates a cooperative institution that results in minimum liabilities to its members. Property shifting is easy Also, obtaining a Cooperative Registration certificate makes it easy for the owners to shift the property’s location without much hassle. Ease in getting Funds from Outside Sources Cooperative Registration allows funding from external sources in donations. But the purpose of society must be exclusively for the betterment of people. Without the Registration, you are not eligible to get any of the aforementioned benefits. Therefore, get your society registered with the Registrationwala. |
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