Staff Reporter :
The Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) has fined five insurance companies amounting to Tk 1.35 crore for opening policies violating insurance law.
The companies opened policies on credit for clients and provided margin to unlicensed agents, IDRA sources said on Monday.
The companies are Standard Insurance Company, Meghna Insurance Company, Bangladesh National Insurance Company, Republic Insurance Company and Eastland Insurance Company. The insurance regulator gave the decisions last week after hearing, it said.
IDRA chairman M Shefaque Ahmed three members of the regulatory body Md Quddus Khan, Sultan-Ul-Abedine Molla and Zuber Ahmed Khan were present at time of hearing.
According press release,The IDRA inspection team had visited Standard Insurance’s four branches at Motijheel in Dhaka and two branches in Faridpur and found evidences of opening of insurance policies on credit, violating insurance law.
During a hearing on November 24, Standard Insurance admitted to the allegations against the company. After the hearing, the insurance regulator fined Standard Insurance Tk 30 lakh, its Managing Director Amar Krishna Saha Tk 6 lakh and branch managers Tk 3 lakh each.
The IDRA on November 25 fined Meghna Insurance Company Tk 35 lakh, its Managing Director Talukder Md Zakaria Hossain Tk 7 lakh and branch managers Tk 3.50 lakh each based on inspection report of the regulatory body that found evidences of irregularities committed by its seven branches.
The insurance regulator on November 26, after holding a hearing, fined Bangladesh National Insurance Company Ltd Tk 20 lakh and its Managing Director Md Sanaullah Tk 4 lakh based on inspection reports. The team examined papers of four branches at Karwan Bazar in Dhaka and found evidences of opening insurance policies on credit and opening branches without taking permission from the regulatory body, violating insurance law.
The IDRA press release said that the inspection teams of the insurance regulatory body visited two branches of Republic Insurance at Hatkhola in Dhaka and found evidences of opening insurance policies on credit.
Following the findings, the insurance regulator, after holding a hearing, fined Republic Insurance Company Tk 10 lakh, its Managing Director AMM Mohiuddin Chowdhury Tk 2 lakh and branch managers Tk 2 lakh. The insurance regulatory authority on November 27 fined Eastland Insurance Company Tk 10 lakh, its managing director Orun Kumar Shah Tk 2 lakh and branch managers Tk 1 lakh as the company had opened insurance policies on credit, violating insurance law.
