The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), on July 30, 2026, notified the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Policyholders’ Education and Protection Fund) Regulations, 2026. The regulations establish a dedicated Policyholders’ Education and Protection Fund to strengthen policyholder protection, financial literacy, insurance awareness, grievance redressal, and financial inclusion. The regulations come into force from the date of their publication in the Official Gazette and will be reviewed every three years.
The regulations provide for the creation of a separate fund financed through Authority contributions, government and institutional grants, penalties, undistributed disgorged amounts, and investment income. A Fund Management Committee will administer the fund, while only the investment income from the corpus may be utilised for specified activities, including policyholder education, consumer awareness, grievance redressal, recovery of unclaimed amounts, digital policyholder services, and other initiatives approved by the Authority.
The regulations also prescribe the constitution and functions of the Fund Management Committee, investment norms, maintenance and audit of accounts, and governance mechanisms to ensure transparent administration of the Fund. The corpus is to be invested in Central and State Government Securities and scheduled commercial bank deposits, with annual audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).
[Notification No. IRDAI/Reg/10/224/2026]
