ICICI Prudential Life Insurance Co. Ltd has agreed to absorb the life insurance business of Sahara India Life Insurance Co. Ltd which was effectively dissolved after being taken over by the market’s regulator.
Nilesh Sathe, member for life insurance of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) said in a statement: “ICICI Prudential Life has agreed to take over the policyholders’ liabilities of Sahara Life and has already commenced valuing the liabilities of the policyholders and earmarking the matching assets of Sahara Life.”
ICICI Prudential was one of the six firms identified by IRDAI that could take in Sahara Life’s business.
Sathe added that ICICI Prudential has been given three weeks to submit the valuation report that will be reviewed by IRDAI. The entire process of transferring business between the insurers is expected to take a couple of months, reports Mint.
On June 12, IRDAI made an unprecedented action by taking control of Sahara India Life after it determined that the insurer was acting against the interest of its policyholders. It cited three major violations by the company: It failed to appoint a new chairperson despite the jailing of chairman Subrata Roy over an unrelated case, the insurer’s business showed serious signs of decline, and the firm’s expenses were spiking.
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