Proposed Insurance Bill 2016: Insurance surveyors urge debate before finalization

The insurer surveyors have objected to the finalization of the proposed draft Insurance Bill 2016 by the SECP, saying that a healthy debate amongst the stakeholders should take place without delay. One Jawed Hassan, representing the surveyors, said the proposed draft has some inadequacies and gives a look that it has been prepared by the vested interest groups or the one having no job insight. He has recalled that the Insurance Act 2000 was also adopted in haste, most probably owing to the constraints of SECP and therefore it lacked indigenous requirements of national interest.
The surveyors have sought a public debate on the proposed draft bill of 2016 and the SECP should not work in isolation. They said the proposed bill has numerous anomalies and grey areas. Meanwhile, the SECP has responded to these objections by pointing out that the proposed amendments were shared with the Finance Minister in October 2016. The finance minister after detailed deliberations on the new reforms being proposed for the betterment of the insurance sector directed to commence nationwide consultation session on the proposed reforms. It was followed by the arrangement of a roundtable by the SECP where major stakeholders were invited to comment. The SECP has further described that the participants of the roundtables have provided valuable input during the roundtable conferences.However, the surveyors are yet adamant to the point that the SECP was following donors and foreign consultants blindly like it did in the case of Act of 2000.