RS passes Bill for 100% FDI in insurance sector

RS passes Bill for 100% FDI in insurance sector

During debate, Opposition says Bill should be sent to a Select Committee of Parliament given

its far-reaching impact; House passes Repealing and Amending Bill that annuls 71 obsolete laws

A day after the Lok Sabha passed the Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha (Amendment of Insurance Laws) Bill, the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday passed the legislation which allows 100% foreign direct investment in the insurance sector.

The Upper House also cleared the Repealing and Amending Bill that repeals 71 obsolete laws. The Bill was also passed by the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The structure of insurance regulation is very clearly laid out in the Bill, and the premium collected from Indians by foreign insurance companies will be kept in the country, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, replying to a debate on the Bill. Private sector insurance companies were participating in all welfare schemes of the Union government, and the Bill would ensure that foreign companies would also participate in social sector-related activities and government schemes, Ms. Sitharaman said. “We are not giving them any room to get away from that responsibility,” she said.

The increase in the FDI limit to 100% would ensure more foreign companies invest in India as, in many cases, they did not find joint venture partners for various reasons, she said. With more companies, the competition would increase, and premiums should drop, she said.

Earlier, during the debate, the Opposition demanded that the Bill be sent to a Select Committee of Parliament given the far-reaching impact it has on the insurance sector.

‘Threat to data privacy’

Initiating the debate, senior Congress MP Shaktisinh Gohil said the Bill posed a threat to data privacy as foreign companies would demand PAN and Aadhaar of their customers, which may lead to digital frauds. The Centre should learn from the experience of privatising the civil aviation sector, Mr. Gohil said. He demanded that the Bill be sent to a Select Committee.

Questioning the use of both Hindi and English in the name of the Bill, Saket Gokhale of the All India Trinamool Congress said the Bill opened the door to profit extraction by foreign companies.

A market share of $600 billion would go to foreign investors once the Bill was implemented, Kanimozhi N.V.N. Somu of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam said. “This is daylight robbery. The government should not squander opportunities to promote and strengthen its own PSUs (public sector undertakings), but this government through this Bill is favouring foreign investors and burdening our own insurance companies,” Ms. Kanimozhi said.

The Rajya Sabha passed the Repealing and Amending Bill. The Bill would remove 71 outdated laws, correcting errors that had crept in during the law-making process, and removing discriminatory aspects of certain laws, Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal said.

“We give priority to ease of living along with ease of doing business,” he said. “These reforms are a step towards liberation from a colonial mindset,” he added. It seeks to repeal Acts, including the Indian Tramways Act, 1886; the Levy Sugar Price Equalisation Fund Act, 1976; the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (Determination of Conditions of Service of Employees) Act, 1988; the General Clauses Act, 1897; the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908; and the Indian Succession Act, 1925.