hyderabadnew delhi jandhyala harinarayan is the new chairman of the insurance regulatory development authority of india irda the government cleared the order for his appointment on tuesdaymr harinarayan who was a former chief secretary of andhra pradesh will have a fiveyear tenure at irda he succeeds cs rao who retired in may this year he was chosen for the top job based on the recommendations of a search committee headed by finance secretary d subba rao my mission would be to widen and deepen insurance penetration in india and encourage competition among insurers to give a better deal to consumers mr harinarayan told et on tuesdayaccording to him new channels of distribution have helped improve insurance coverage but more needs to be done we need to look at the role of various distributors including agents and brokers and also encourage direct marketing of retail insurance products he said insurance penetration in india is low compared with developed countries such as the uk and japan measured in terms of premium collections the penetration is close to 41 of gdp in life and 06 of the gdp in the nonlife segment penetration in the nonlife segment is expected to improve with free pricing and product innovation but irda is yet to allow insurers the freedom to design their own products mr harinarayan reckons there is a case for lowering the premium on mediclaim policies to make it more affordable to consumers mediclaim is a voluntary health insurance policy and normally comes up for renewal annually companies can perhaps look at a longer renewal period on their part policy holders should start off with medical insurance schemes as early as possible as it would mean ammortising risk over a longer period of time he said many senior citizens organisations have registered complaints with the insurance regulator on surging premiums and denial of fresh insurance covers an expert committee that examined these complaints recommended universal coverage for health insurance it has also made out a case for a health insurance pool factoring in the high claims ratio in medical insurance here again the regulator is yet to take a view on these suggestions which can help improve insurance penetration according to mr harinarayan there is also need to ensure greater transparency in unitlinked insurance plans a popular savings instrument that offer protection in terms of life cover and flexibility in investments to the policyholder irda has already initiated work on this asking insurers to give a break up of the exact amount that will be available for investments during the premium period but there is no doubt that investors need greater clarity on ulips he said