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GST REGISTRATIONThe IRDA has allowed for the registration of insurance marketing firms so that entrepreneurs and insurance agents can start their own insurance distribution company. As per the Registration of Insurance Marketing Firm Regulations, 2015, an “Insurance Marketing Firm” is defined as an entity registered by the IRDA to solicit or procure insurance products, to undertake insurance service activities and to distribute other financial products.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA) through the IRDA Registration of Insurance Marketing Firm Act 2015 has introduced the concept of “Insurance Marketing Firm” in India. Insurance Marketing Firms are an entity registered in India that are allowed to solicit or procure insurance products, to undertake insurance services and to distribute other financial products. With the Government of India raising the FDI in insurance, the insurance industry is set to witness robust growth in the coming years and there exists tremendous potential for those starting an insurance marketing firm. In this article, we look at the procedure for starting an insurance marketing firm in India.
To obtain IRDA registration for an Insurance Marketing Firm, the following eligibility criteria must be fulfilled:
Note: Since the act doesn’t expressly mention Partnership Firm or Proprietorship, it is best to start a private limited company or LLP.
Upon satisfying the above eligibility criteria, the applicant can make an application to the IRDA in the given format for registration as an Insurance Marketing Firm. The applicant would provide registration as “Insurance Marketing Firm” if the IRDA satisfies with the application. The registration for Insurance Marketing Firm issued by the IRDA would be valid for a period of three years from the date of its issue.
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A Private Limited Company is the most popular type of corporate entity in India. It is registered as per the compliance and regulatory guidelines of the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. In this article, we will be going over the entire process of registering a Pvt. Ltd. Company in India, step-by-step and explaining the compliance measures one at a time.
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No, new company registration is a fully online process. As all documents are filed electronically, you would not need to be physically present at all. You would need to send us scanned copies of all the required documents & forms.
The payment of remuneration and/ or reward to an Insurance Marketing Firm by an insurer is as per Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Payment of commission or remuneration or reward to insurance agents and insurance intermediaries) Regulations, 2016 (as amended from time to time).
In addition, the Insurance Marketing Firm may receive reimbursement of expenses from Life insurers towards recruitment, training and mentoring of their ISPs. This reimbursement shall not exceed 50% of first year commission and 10% of renewal commission received by the IMF in case of Life insurers.
Any change in the engagement with the insurers shall be governed by the terms of the agreement entered into between the Insurance Marketing Firm and the insurer, with suitable arrangements for servicing existing policyholders by the concerned insurer, in case of cancellation/termination/discontinuity of agreement.
No Objection Certificate (NOC) is a certificate issued to an IMF applicant by the Authority on request. The NOC is issued for the sole purpose of enabling the IMF applicant to apply for incorporation of the proposed IMF Firm Name (which must necessarily include the words “Insurance Marketing / IMF”) with Registrar of Companies (ROC). The NOC is valid up to six months from the date of issue.
The applicant shall register on the IMF portal and submit application for IMF registration within one year of incorporation of the company with ROC by following the procedure below:
Registration Number (CIN, LLPIN, etc), PAN (Firm’s or Director’s), Email, Mobile Number
Regulations o Submit a copy of the Insurance Marketing Firm Exam pass Certificate of the Principal Officer and the ISPs proposed to be engaged by the Insurance
Marketing Firm o Submit a copy of the Qualification Certificates and Experience Certificates of the PO
Authority that the IMF shall ensure compliance with the Regulations o Submit a Net Worth Certificate from a Chartered Accountant that the Net
Worth of the proposed IMF is not less than the limit prescribed by the IRDAI (Registration of Insurance Marketing Firm) Regulations, 2015 and amendments thereof.
Certificate o Submit a copy of MoA and AoA in case of a company or the LLP Agreement in case of an LLP
Equipment and Manpower (Photographs) o Submit consent letter from Insurance Companies with which the applicant proposes to work (at least one consent letter is necessary) ? Click on “Submit” after completing the application.
No. The Authority may opt to conduct a Telephonic Interview instead of a Personal Presentation.
An IMF Registration issued by the Authority is valid for a period of three years from the date of its issue, unless it is suspended or cancelled by the Authority.
The applicant shall have net worth of:
The applicant shall ensure that the net worth is maintained at all times and the IMF shall submit a certificate duly certified by a chartered accountant to this effect annually within three months from the close of the financial year.
The "Area" is defined as the district for which the registration of the Insurance Marketing Firm is valid. Maximum of three districts within a State are allowed for registration/renewal. If an applicant is opting for more than one district, then at least one of the districts shall be an aspirational district as per the list published by NITI Aayog, Government of India.
An IMF may opt for a maximum of three districts within a State. The IMF shall specify the details of offices to be set up in the districts opted including manpower deployment, etc. If the Insurance Marketing Firm has more than one office, it will ensure that each office shall have at least one ISP.
Yes. An IMF is free to solicit or procure Insurance business from all over the country but the business so procured must be logged in at the Office of the corresponding Insurance Company within the area of it’s operation.
The Principal officer of the Insurance Marketing Firm, shall fulfill any of the eligibility conditions as given below;
Hyderabad;or
No. After company is registered, it need to open a company bank account and then anytime within two months of incorporation, capital can be deposited into Company bank account.
Financial Services Executive (FSE) is an individual employed by Insurance Marketing Firm (IMF) and holding a valid license issued by the respective financial sector Regulator, other than the Authority, to market the products specified as follows.
An "Insurance Sales Person" is an individual employed by Insurance Marketing Firm to solicit or procure insurance products.
Yes. The Insurance Marketing firm may engage the same person for sale of both Insurance and other financial products, if he/she meets the qualification criteria and certification requirements as laid out in the IMF Regulations.
Yes. Every IMF shall take out and maintain at all times a professional indemnity insurance cover throughout the validity period of its Registration. The limit of indemnity shall be two times the total remuneration of the IMF for the preceding financial years subject to a minimum of amount equal to the applicable net worth requirement. The total remuneration includes remuneration from their insurance solicitation/procuring activities, insurance servicing activities and marketing of other financial products activities as specified in the IMF Regulations.
A newly registered IMF shall produce the PI policy within 12 months from the date of issue of registration.
IMF registered by the Authority for a specified category of activity/activities may also apply for addition/deletion of activity/activities, which are allowed under IMF Regulations, by fulfilling the requirements specified therein.
An Insurance Marketing Firm shall maintain the following records in physical form or electronic form or both
Authority's guidelines and provisions of The Prevention of Money laundering Act,2002;
Registered IMF shall submit the application for renewal of registration to the Authority at least thirty days before the expiry of the registration. However, the Insurance Marketing firm is permitted to apply for renewal ninety days before the expiry of the registration.
In the event of a certificate of registration being lost or destroyed or mutilated, an IMF shall submit to the authority along with a fee of rupees one thousand a declaration giving full details regarding the issues of registration and its loss or destruction or mutilation, request for issue of a duplicate certificate of registration.
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