IRDAI Approves Reliance Health Insurance’s Operations

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) gave its final nod in October 2018 to Reliance Health Insurance to begin its operations. In a statement, Reliance Capital said, “Reliance Health Insurance, a wholly owned subsidiary of Reliance Capital, has received R3 approval from IRDAI for its new health insurance business.” Additionally, IRDAI, in a different statement said, “With this registration, the total number of standalone health insurers registered with the Authority has gone up to seven.”

Reliance Health Insurance is all set to commence its business in December 2018. Although a few months old in the field of retail health insurance, the insurer had a pan-India presence since the very beginning of operations. The insurer started with nearly 3,500 hospitals as partners. At present, Reliance Health Insurance owns partnership with more than 5,000 hospitals. Anmol Ambani, Executive Director, Reliance Capital, said, “Setting up a standalone health insurance company with an extremely experienced and capable leadership will allow us to put the right kind of focus that this segment requires. We are making significant investments in our technology and digital platforms.”

Ravi Vishwanath, with over 20 years of global experience in health insurance, has been proposed as CEO designate of Reliance Health Insurance.

The insurer said that health insurance in India has been amongst the fastest-growing insurance sectors, rising at 20% on an annual basis and is expected to double to over Rs. 1,00,000 Crore by the year 2021.