What the e-IA Mandate Requires and Its Regulatory Basis
IRDAI's e-insurance account (e-IA) mandate is grounded in the IRDAI (Insurance Repositories and Electronic Issuance of Insurance Policies) Regulations, 2016, as amended, and the subsequent circulars issued under the broader IRDAI Digital Transformation initiative. The central requirement is that all life insurance policies issued from specified dates must be in electronic form and held in an e-IA maintained by one of the four IRDAI-approved Insurance Repositories. For non-life and health insurance policies, the mandate has been progressively extended - initially to policies above certain premium thresholds, and now to all new policy issuances.
An e-IA is analogous to a demat account for securities. Just as physical share certificates were dematerialised and held in CDSL or NSDL, physical insurance policies are converted to electronic form and held in an insurance repository account. The repository maintains a centralised record of all policies held by a policyholder in their e-IA. Policyholders can view policy details, renewal dates, premium due notices, and claim status from a single digital interface rather than managing physical paper across multiple insurers and storage locations.
The four IRDAI-approved Insurance Repositories as of 2026 are: CAMSRep (administered by Computer Age Management Services), KFintech Insurance Repository, NSDL-NDML (National Securities Depository Limited - National Data Management Limited), and Karvy Insurance Repository. All four repositories are licensed by IRDAI and are subject to IRDAI's inspection and regulatory oversight. Policyholders can open an e-IA with any one of the four repositories, and all IRDAI-licensed insurers are required to integrate with all four repositories to enable policy issuance through whichever repository the policyholder has chosen.
For corporate policyholders, the e-IA mandate covers the full range of commercial insurance policies: fire and property, marine, engineering, liability, cyber, professional indemnity, directors and officers, health, motor fleet, and any other policy issued by an IRDAI-licensed general insurer. This includes group policies (such as group health and group personal accident) where the corporate entity is the master policyholder.
How Insurance Repositories Work: Opening and Managing an Account
Opening an e-IA is a one-time process that must be completed before any electronic policy can be issued. The process differs slightly across repositories but follows a standardised IRDAI-approved KYC and onboarding framework. For a corporate entity, the e-IA opening process requires: the company's PAN card, Certificate of Incorporation (from MCA), a resolution of the Board of Directors authorising the opening of the e-IA and designating authorised signatories, and the KYC documents of the authorised representatives who will manage the account. GSTIN linkage is required for GST input credit tracking on insurance premiums. The entire KYC process is expected to be completed digitally, with physical document submission replaced by digital verification through Aadhaar-based OTP and DigiLocker integration for corporate documents.
Once the e-IA is opened, the corporate policyholder provides the e-IA account number to its insurance broker. When a policy is issued or renewed by an insurer, the insurer uploads the policy document to the repository against the policyholder's e-IA account number. The policyholder receives an automated notification (via email and SMS) that the policy is available in the e-IA. The policy is accessible through the repository's web portal and mobile application.
A critical feature for corporate policyholders with multiple policies across multiple insurers is the consolidated view. The e-IA aggregates all policies - fire, marine, cyber, D&O, health - from all insurers into a single account view. This is directly useful for insurance managers responsible for a company's portfolio of policies, who previously had to track paper policies, endorsements, and renewal dates from each insurer separately. The e-IA's renewal reminder functionality is particularly valuable: the repository automatically generates renewal notices at specified intervals (typically 90 days, 60 days, and 30 days before renewal) and sends them to the policyholder's registered contact.
Repository charges are regulated by IRDAI. The annual maintenance fee for an e-IA is modest (typically in the range of INR 100-500 per year for individual accounts; corporate account structures may be priced differently depending on the repository and the volume of policies held). The cost of dematerialisation for existing physical policies is similarly regulated. Insurers are required to bear the cost of electronic issuance for new policies, so the direct cost to the corporate policyholder for new policy issuance through the e-IA is zero.
Compliance Timeline and Penalties for Non-Compliance
IRDAI has issued the e-IA mandate in phases, with different timelines applying to different categories of policies and premium thresholds. The current status as of 2026 is that all new life insurance policies, irrespective of premium amount, must be issued in electronic form through an insurance repository. For non-life insurance policies, the mandate applies to all new policies where the annual premium exceeds INR 10,000 - a threshold that encompasses the vast majority of commercial insurance policies.
The phasing was deliberate: IRDAI initially applied the electronic issuance mandate to high-premium policies where the operational benefits (secure storage, easy retrieval, consolidated view) were clearest, and to policies where the insurer had already developed the technical infrastructure to integrate with repositories. The subsequent extension to lower-premium policies reflects the maturation of the repository infrastructure and the growing acceptance of e-policies by policyholders.
For existing physical policies issued before the relevant effective dates, IRDAI has encouraged (but not yet mandated) dematerialisation. Dematerialisation is the process of converting a physical insurance policy into an electronic record in the policyholder's e-IA. The process involves the policyholder submitting a dematerialisation request to the repository, the repository approaching the insurer for confirmation of the policy details, and the insurer uploading the electronic policy record against the policyholder's account. The original physical policy is then treated as surrendered to the insurer.
Penalties for non-compliance fall primarily on insurers rather than policyholders. An IRDAI-licensed insurer that issues a policy in physical form where electronic issuance is mandated is in breach of its licensing conditions and the IRDAI (Insurance Repositories and Electronic Issuance of Insurance Policies) Regulations, 2016. IRDAI can impose penalties under Section 102 of the Insurance Act, 1938 (as amended), which permits fines of up to INR 1 crore per violation for insurers. For brokers, the IRDAI (Insurance Brokers) Regulations, 2018 impose an obligation to facilitate e-IA compliance for clients as part of the broker's advisory services; a broker who consistently facilitates paper policy issuance where electronic issuance is mandatory may face regulatory scrutiny of its practices.
For corporate policyholders, the consequence of non-compliance is primarily operational rather than directly regulatory: physical policies are more susceptible to loss, harder to track across a multi-policy portfolio, slower to retrieve in a claim, and ineligible for the automated renewal notification and consolidated view features of the e-IA system.
Transitioning Existing Physical Policies to the e-IA
For Indian corporates that have accumulated physical insurance policies over many years - fire policies, machinery breakdown policies, marine open covers, engineering policies, D&O and PI policies - the transition to the e-IA involves a structured dematerialisation exercise that is more operationally involved than simply opening the e-IA account.
The first step is a policy inventory audit. Many large Indian corporates (particularly those with multiple plants, offices, and subsidiaries) do not have a complete centralised record of all active policies. The insurance manager may know about the current-year primary policies but may not have a complete record of endorsements, extensions, and specialist covers placed by subsidiary or divisional managers. Before initiating dematerialisation, the corporate must compile a complete schedule of all policies including policy number, insurer, broker, sum insured, premium, inception and expiry dates, and current physical location of the policy document.
The second step is engaging the insurance broker to coordinate the dematerialisation requests with each insurer. The dematerialisation process requires the insurer to confirm the policy details against its own records and to upload the electronic policy to the repository. For policies where the original physical document has been lost or damaged, the insurer must issue a duplicate policy (which is then the basis for dematerialisation). The timeframe for the insurer to complete a dematerialisation upload varies: IRDAI guidelines expect insurers to complete dematerialisation within 30 days of receiving a valid request, but in practice, delays are common for older policies where records may be incomplete.
For group policies (group health, group personal accident, workmen's compensation), the dematerialisation process is more complex because the policy document is a master policy held by the corporate employer, with individual certificates issued to employees. The e-IA system accommodates this by holding the master policy details in the corporate e-IA and providing a mechanism for individual employee certificates to be linked to the master. This structure is particularly important for group health policies covering large employee populations, where the HR and payroll systems need to interface with the e-IA data to ensure employee additions, deletions, and endorsements are reflected accurately.
For long-term policies (such as long-term fire policies issued for three or five years, which were encouraged by IRDAI for residential and small commercial properties), dematerialisation is straightforward but requires attention to the endorsement history: any mid-term changes to sum insured, occupancy, or coverage terms that have been captured as physical endorsements must be incorporated into the electronic record at the time of dematerialisation.
The target state for a well-managed corporate insurance portfolio is a single e-IA account holding electronic records of all policies across all classes, accessible in real time by the insurance manager, the CFO, and the board's risk committee. This target state supports the enterprise risk management (ERM) function by enabling automated tracking of coverage gaps, upcoming renewals, and claim status - capabilities that manual paper-policy management cannot efficiently provide.
Nominee and Access Management for Corporate e-IA Accounts
The governance of the corporate e-IA account is a practical matter that companies frequently underestimate. Unlike an individual's e-IA (which is linked to that individual's PAN and managed personally), a corporate e-IA is an asset of the company and must be managed through authorised personnel with appropriate access controls.
IRDAI's repository regulations require corporate e-IA account holders to designate authorised signatories who can execute transactions on the account - including requesting dematerialisation, authorising policy changes reflected in the e-IA, and managing nominee designations. The authorised signatories should be specified in the board resolution that authorises the account opening. Typically, the CFO, the risk manager, and a designated alternate are named as authorised signatories.
Nominee management for corporate insurance policies in the e-IA context requires clarity on what 'nominee' means for a corporate policy as distinct from an individual life insurance policy. For life and personal accident policies taken by a corporate employer on behalf of employees (such as group term life or key-man insurance), the nominee is typically the employee's legal heir or a family member. These nominees should be registered in the e-IA at the time of policy issuance, not retrospectively at the time of a claim. For property and liability policies, where the claimant is typically the company itself, the nominee concept is not directly applicable, but the e-IA's access management function ensures that the right people within the company have access to policy documents and claim records.
Access control within the e-IA is important for governance. Most repositories offer multi-level access: a master access level for the authorised signatory (who can execute all transactions), a read-only access level for the finance team (who need to view policy details for accounts and tax purposes), and an alert-only access level for junior staff (who receive renewal reminders but cannot modify account settings). Configuring these access levels appropriately, and reviewing them when personnel changes occur, is an operational requirement that should be built into the corporate's IT and access control review cycle.
When a corporate changes its insurance broker, the e-IA access settings that previously gave the broker view access to the corporate's policy portfolio must be updated. The previous broker should have its access revoked, and the new broker should be granted appropriate access. The repository provides a documented access log, which should be reviewed periodically as part of the corporate's insurance governance process.
How Brokers Are Managing the Transition for Large Corporate Portfolios
For insurance brokers managing large corporate accounts - manufacturing companies with 20-50 policies across multiple classes, or financial services groups with complex programmes - the e-IA mandate has required significant operational investment. Understanding how leading brokers are managing this transition helps corporate buyers set appropriate expectations and work effectively with their brokers.
The primary challenge is the repository integration by each insurer. The four approved repositories use different technical standards and integration protocols, and not all insurers have achieved seamless integration with all four repositories. In 2025-26, some insurers are still managing e-policy uploads manually or semi-automatically, creating delays in e-IA population after policy issuance. A corporate buyer may receive the physical policy first (or an email soft copy) before the electronic record appears in the e-IA - which is technically a breach of the mandate on the insurer's part but is tolerated in practice as the industry catches up.
Leading brokers including Marsh India, Aon India, JLT India (now part of Marsh), and specialist Indian brokers have built or acquired technology infrastructure to automate the tracking of e-IA population for their corporate clients. A broker managing a corporate portfolio of 30+ policies will typically run a weekly reconciliation: checking which policies have been uploaded to the e-IA against the schedule of policies placed, and following up with insurers where the e-IA record is incomplete or incorrect.
For mid-market corporates that do not have a dedicated insurance manager, the broker assumes a more active role: opening the e-IA on behalf of the client, managing the authorised signatory designations, and providing the corporate with periodic portfolio reports extracted from the e-IA. This service is increasingly factored into the broker's value proposition for mid-market accounts and is differentiating brokers who have invested in technology from those who have not.
The e-IA mandate has also created an opportunity for corporates to rationalise their insurance portfolio. The consolidated e-IA view, often seen by a corporate's finance or risk team for the first time as part of the dematerialisation exercise, reveals duplicate covers, expiring policies that were not renewed, and coverage gaps that were not apparent from managing physical documents. The dematerialisation exercise is therefore not just a compliance task but a risk governance opportunity.
Impact on Claims: e-Policies and Surveyor Verification
The shift to electronic policies in the e-IA has specific implications for how claims are initiated, verified, and processed. These implications are largely positive from a speed and accuracy standpoint, but they require coordination between the corporate's e-IA account, the insurer's claims system, and the surveyor's workflow.
When a loss event occurs, the corporate's first task in the claims process is to notify the insurer and provide proof of coverage. Under the paper policy regime, this required locating the physical policy document (which might be in a filing cabinet, a bank vault, or a storage facility) and either presenting it or couriering a copy to the insurer. Under the e-IA regime, the policy document is instantly retrievable from the repository portal. The corporate's insurance manager can download a certified copy of the e-policy in minutes and attach it to the loss notification. This alone can save several days in the claims initiation process for a large manufacturing loss where the insurer requires sight of the policy before appointing a surveyor.
Surveyors appointed by IRDAI-licensed insurers (governed by the IRDAI (Surveyors and Loss Assessors) Regulations, 2024) are increasingly expected to access policy documents through the e-IA rather than through paper copies presented by the claimant. An e-policy accessed through the repository is tamper-evident (it has a repository-issued electronic signature confirming authenticity), which reduces the risk of document manipulation in claims - a historically significant source of fraud in Indian commercial insurance. The insurer's claims team can verify that the e-policy the surveyor is working from is the current, unaltered version of the policy as issued.
Endorsements are a particular area of improvement. In the paper policy regime, endorsements modifying the coverage (changing the sum insured, adding a co-insured, extending to a new location) were issued as separate physical documents that had to be attached to the original policy. An incomplete endorsement chain was a common source of disputes in claims, with insurers arguing that a particular location or risk was not covered because the relevant endorsement was not submitted with the claim. In the e-IA system, endorsements are uploaded to the repository and linked to the base policy record, creating a single consolidated e-policy document that reflects all mid-term changes. A claims handler can view the complete endorsement history of a policy with a single query against the repository.
For large property claims where the loss assessment process involves extended negotiations between the claimant, the surveyor, and the insurer's claims department over many months, the e-IA creates an accessible reference point for all parties. The policy wording, the declared values, the endorsements, and any subjectivities noted at the time of underwriting are all accessible in the e-IA, reducing the scope for disputed recollections of what was agreed at placement.