press release

Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India Press Release | 21st May 2026 Orientation Programme for Insurance Ombudsmen With a view to strengthening the effectiveness of the Insurance Ombudsman mechanism and aligning it with the evolving expectations of the Authority and the rapidly changing insurance landscape, the Council for Insurance Ombudsmen (CIO), under the guidance of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), is conducting an “Orientation Programme for Insurance Ombudsmen” from 20th May to 23rd May 2026 at IRDAI Headquarters, Hyderabad. The programme brings together all Insurance Ombudsmen across the country and is aimed at enhancing institutional capacity, promoting greater consistency in grievance redressal practices and facilitating exchange of perspectives on emerging issues in the insurance sector.

During the programme, Shri M. Nagaraju, Secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS), Ministry of Finance, Government of India, addressed the participants and senior officers of the Authority through video conference. He emphasised the importance of approaching every grievance with empathy and a strong policyholder-centric perspective. He underscored the need for continuous capacity building and adoption of best practices supported by appropriate policies, digital tools and technology-driven processes. He also appreciated the efforts of the DFS and IRDAI teams in ensuring timely resolution of complaints and appeals on the CPGRAMS platform.

Shri Ajay Seth, Chairman, IRDAI, while addressing the Insurance Ombudsmen and senior officers of the Authority, highlighted that the Institution of Insurance Ombudsman promises to provide free, speedy and accessible grievance redressal to policyholders. He urged the participants to utilise such orientation programmes to identify operational challenges, share experiences and evolve practical solutions for improving the overall effectiveness of the grievance redressal framework. He noted that strengthening customer trust is central to achieving higher insurance penetration and realising the vision of inclusive insurance coverage. He further emphasised the need to address recurring instances of mis-selling, enhance public awareness regarding grievance redressal mechanisms and improve the efficiency of insurance intermediation. He also highlighted key areas requiring focused attention, including complaints pending beyond 90 days, delays in registration of complaints, non-entertainable complaints and the need to increase the number of hearings conducted through video conferencing. He called upon all stakeholders to work in a coordinated manner towards making the Insurance Ombudsman system more robust, responsive, technology- enabled and policyholder-centric.

During 2025-26, 41,055 grievances were decided by Insurance Ombudsmen. Of which, 79% were decided in favour of policyholders.