By IANS,
Chennai: Insurance regulator has imposed a penalty of Rs.76 lakh on private life insurer MetLife India Insurance Company Ltd. for violation of its regulations, an official said Monday.
After considering 42 charges against the company, the chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) J. Hari Narayan ordered it to pay Rs.76 lakh within 15 days debiting the shareholders account, the official said.
Taking a serious note of MetLife hosting its investment systems/primary data outside India thereby leaving a scope for denial of access by IRDA whenever needed, the regulator fined the insurer Rs.500,000 while directing to host the investment systems within India by December 2012.
The regulator fined MetLife Rs.20 lakh for having a defective policy administrative system which resulted in less creation of units in policy-holders account to the tune of around Rs.7 crore.
MetLife was also fined Rs.25 lakh for paying corporate agents in violation of its regulations in five instances. The company was also fined Rs.26 lakh in other counts.
Meanwhile, IRDA Oct 5 approved the 30 percent stake transfer in MetLife to Punjab National Bank (PNB) by the existing shareholders subject to five year lock in period from the date of transfer.
The regulator also directed MetLife to increase its capital base to strengthen its solvency position by March 2013.