The government on Tuesday informed the Rajya Sabha that it has asked Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) to expeditiously get a binding legal order over the jurisdiction of unit-linked insurance products (Ulips).
“The SEBI has moved the Supreme Court seeking transfer of various proceedings pending before the High Courts ...so that the highest court of the land can determine and settle these disputes,” Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena told the Upper House in a written reply.
The insurance regulator and the market watchdog are locked in a turf war over control of the Ulips, which are in investment products but issued by insurance companies. The issue began last month when SEBI restrained 14 insurance companies from raising money from Ulips without obtaining registration from the market regulator. IRDA later responded to the SEBI directive by asking the insurers to ignore the order and continue with business as usual.
