Irda cautions public against spurious calls

Insurance regulator Irda on Thursday cautioned the public against falling prey to spurious calls being made in the name of regulator to sell policies.

"The IRDA does not involve directly or through any representative in sale of any kind of insurance or financial products," the regulator said in a public notice.

Irda has also shared the modus operandi used by one such spurious caller based on a complaint and provided links to the audio records of the spurious call to make members of public aware of the practices.

It has asked the public to remain alert and not to fall prey to frauds or scams perpetrated by miscreants who impersonate to be employees or officers of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) or other insurance companies.

Irda asked the people to be aware of those spurious callers who advise them to invest in insurance policies to avail gifts, promotional offers, interest free loans or setting up of telecom towers, among other incentives.

"If any member of the public notices such instances, he or she may lodge a police complaint giving full details, along with the details of the caller and telephone number from which the call was received, in the local police station," the Irda said.