The insurance industry is sceptical over its ability to meet the sharp deadline of November 1 set by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority's (Irda) direction to come out with the first set of quarterly public disclosures of financials. Norms for public disclosure announced last week by insurance companies is seen as a prelude to several life insurance companies coming out with initial public offer (IPO). S B Mathur, secretary general. Life Insurance Council said, “Insurance companies will need some time to compile all the details, as the details will have to be provided regularly in a periodic manner. Irda has asked for feedback from insurers. Industry has been pressurising the regulator to come out with IPO no rms as some firms want to dilute stakes, hence the ne ed for further disclosures.”

A senior official ICICI Prudential Life Insurance said that insurers might take more time to compile details as the disclosures need to be made periodically after every quarter, and it not a one-time disclosure which the regulator is asking for. “We will have to make arrangements for disseminating regular disclosures based on set format. All this would take time.”

A Giridhar, executive director-administration, Irda, who issued the draft guidelines on regulator's behalf, said the disclosure norms are meant for all insurance companies irrespective of their intention to get listed. “The idea is to let policyholders, whose money is at stake, know how the companies are faring,” he said.

According to Giridhar, only when companies file data — quarterly, half yearly and annually, historical data will be available to the public. Until now, the insurers were making most of their business statistics and investment details available to the regulator under the yearly disclosures. The new guidelines propose the insurers to make quarterly, half yearly and annual disclosures to public.

The disclosures proposed are in line with the standards prescribed by the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS). TR Ramachandran, CEO and managing director, Aviva India Life Insurance said, “These disclosures will increase the transparency in the insurance sector and allow the customers to evaluate the risk profile and performance of a company to make infor med decisi ons. This will also provide the industry with an opportunity to receive feedback from analysts, investors and benefit from it. This is the logical way forward from the corporate governance norms issued by the regulator in the recent past.”

Confusion is also brewing after the draft guidelines for the public disclosures. Some companies believe that the norms are not applicable on companies th at are holding back their public offering. GLN Sarma, appointed actuary with Bharti AXA Life Insurance Co, said, “My assumption is that these disclosures are mandatory only for companies going for an IPO and not otherwise. As our feedback filing exercise, we will seek clarification from Irda on the same.” Sarma says the insurers who want to hit the primary market would have to make disclosures that would help analysts and the public value the company independently.