RPT — India proposes wide — ranging insurance reforms to bring down costs

(Repeats Wednesday's story with no changes to text) By Ashwin Manikandan MUMBAI, Sept 23 (Reuters) — India's insurance regulator proposed overhauling commission rules to cap payouts, link them to product complexity and spread life insurers' commissions beyond a policy's first year, a discussion paper released late on Wednesday showed. The proposals are part of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India's push to reform the sector after New Delhi this year opened it to 100% foreign ownership, and target costs it says have ballooned since commission limits were scrapped in 2023. Reuters had reported in July that the regulator is planning reforms to curb mis-selling in the sector. Here are the key details of the proposals: The paper proposes linking commission levels to complexity of products and effort required to sell. It prescribes lower commissions for products sold via an "open architecture" such as through brokers and banks, which are large channels of sales for health, motor and life insurance. Mandatory insurance covers such as third-party motor policies would earn little or no commission. Commissions for banks and lenders selling insurance alongside loans are