The Insurance Regulatory Authority of India (Irda) has imposed a penalty of Rs 76 lakh on
private life insurer MetLife India Insurance Company for
violation of its regulations.
After considering 42 charges against the company,
Irda Chairman J. Hari Narayan ordered MetLife to pay Rs 76 lakh within 15 days debiting the shareholders account.
Taking serious note of MetLife hosting its investment systems/primary data outside India, thereby leaving a scope for denial of access by Irda whenever needed, the regulator fined the insurer Rs 5,00,000 while directing to host the investment systems within India by December 2012.
Irda fined MetLife Rs 20 lakh for having a defective policy administrative system which resulted in less creation of units in policy-holders account to the tune of around Rs 7 crore.
MetLife was also fined Rs 25 lakh for paying corporate agents in violation of its regulations in five instances. The company was also fined Rs 26 lakh in other counts.
Meanwhile, Irda on October 5 approved the
30 per cent stake transfer in MetLife to Punjab National Bank by the existing shareholders subject to five year lock in period from the date of transfer.
The regulator also directed MetLife to increase its capital base to strengthen its solvency position by March 2013.
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