Section 3 in Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Unit Linked Insurance Products) Regulations, 2019
3. Definitions.
- In these Regulations, unless the context otherwise requires,(a)"Act" means the Insurance Act, 1938 (4 of 1938).(b)"Authority" means the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India established under subsection (1) of section 3 of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999 (41 of 1999).(c)"Allocation" means the process of creating the units at the prevailing unit price offered by the life insurer for example, when the premiums are received or when switches are made.(d)"Annualized Premium" means the premium amount payable in a year excluding the taxes, rider premiums and underwriting extra premium on riders, if any.(e)"Date of Payment of Premium" means the date on which premium payment is received by the insurer in accordance with the provisions of Section 64 VB (2) of the Act.(f)"Discontinuance" means the state of a policy that could arise on account of surrender of the policy or nonpayment of the contractual premium due before the expiry of the grace period.Provided that no policy shall be treated as discontinued on non-payment of the said premium if, within the grace period, the premium has not been paid due to the death of the insured or upon the happening of any other contingency covered under the policy.(g)"Death Benefit" means the benefit which is payable on death as stated in the policy document.(h)"Discontinued Policy Fund" means the segregated fund of the insurer that is set aside and is constituted by the fund value, as applicable, of all the policies discontinued during lock-in period, determined in accordance with these Regulations.(i)"Employer-Employee group" means group where an employer-employee relationship exists between the master policyholder and the member in accordance with the relevant laws.(j)"Fund value or Unit Fund value" means the total value of the units at a point of time in a segregated fund i.e. total number of units under a policy multiplied by the Net Asset Value (NAV) per unit of that fund.(k)"Grace Period for other than single Premium Policies" means the time granted by the insurer from the due date for the payment of premium, without any penalty or late fee, during which time the policy is considered to be in-force with the risk cover without any interruption, as per the terms & conditions of the policy. The grace period for payment of the premium for all types of Unit Linked insurance policies shall be: fifteen days, where the policyholder pays the premium on a monthly basis and thirty days in all other cases.(l)"Limited Premium Payment Policy" means the Unit Linked insurance policy other than single premium policy, where the premium payment period is limited compared to the policy term, and premiums are payable at regular intervals like yearly, half yearly, quarterly, monthly or any other interval as approved by the Authority.(m)"Lock-in Period" means the period of five consecutive completed years from the date of commencement of the policy, during which period the proceeds of the discontinued policies cannot be paid by the insurer to the policyholder or to the insured, as the case may be, except in the case of death or upon the happening of any other contingency covered under the policy.(n)"Maturity Benefit" means the benefit which is payable on maturity as stated in the policy document.(o)"Net Asset Value (NAV)" means the price per unit of the Segregated Fund.(p)"Partial Withdrawals" means any part of fund that is encashed/withdrawn by the policyholder during the period of contract.(q)"Premium re-Direction" means an option which allows the policyholder to modify the allocation of amount of renewal premium to various segregated funds, under a Unit Linked policy.(r)"Redemption" means cancellation of the units at the prevailing unit price of the segregated funds offered in the products, in case of partial withdrawals, switches, surrender, maturity etc.(s)"Regular Premium Policy" means Unit Linked insurance policy where the premium payment is throughout the term of the policy or premium payment term of the policy and premiums are payable at regular intervals.(t)"Rider Benefits" means an amount of benefit payable on a specified event offered under the rider, and is allowed as add-on benefit to benefit under base product, and may include waiver of premium benefit on other applicable riders.(u)"Revival of a Policy" means restoration of the policy, which was discontinued due to the non-payment of premium, by the insurer with all the benefits mentioned in the policy document, with or without rider benefits, if any, upon the receipt of all the premiums due and other charges or late fee, if any, as per the terms and conditions of the policy, upon being satisfied as to the continued insurability of the insured or policyholder on the basis of the information, documents and reports furnished by the policyholder, in accordance with Board approved Underwriting policy.(v)"Revival Period" means the period of three consecutive complete years from the date of first unpaid premium during which period the policyholder is entitled to revive the policy which was discontinued due to the nonpayment of premium.(w)"Segregated Fund" means funds earmarked in respect of Unit Linked business.(x)"Settlement Option" means a facility made available to the policyholder to receive the maturity or death proceeds in instalments in accordance with the terms and conditions stated in advance at the inception of the contract.(y)"Single Premium Policy" means Unit Linked insurance policy, where the premium payment is made in lump sum payment at the inception of the policy.(z)"Sum Assured" means an absolute amount of benefit which is guaranteed to become payable on death of the life assured in accordance with the terms and conditions of the policy or an absolute amount of benefit which is available to meet the health cover.(aa)"Surrender" means complete withdrawal or termination of the entire policy.(bb)"Surrender Value" means an amount, if any, that becomes payable in case of surrender in accordance with the terms and conditions of the policy.(cc)"Switches" means a facility allowing the policyholder to change the investment pattern by moving from one segregated fund, either wholly or in part, to other segregated fund(s) amongst the segregated funds offered under the underlying Unit Linked insurance product of the insurer.(dd)"Top-up premium" is an amount of premium that is paid by the policyholders at irregular intervals besides basic regular premium payments or single premium stated in the contract and is treated as single premium for all purposes.(ee)"Units" means a specific portion or part of the underlying segregated Unit Linked fund which is representative of the policyholder's entitlement in such funds.(ff)"Unit Linked Whole Life policy" means Unit Linked insurance policy, which does not have a definite policy term and the policy terminates on death of the life assured or provides coverage at least up to attainment of age 80 years.(gg)All words and expressions used herein and not defined in these Regulations but defined in the Insurance Act, 1938 or the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999 (41 of 1999) or in any Rules or Regulations made thereunder, shall have the meanings respectively assigned to them in those Acts or Rules or Regulations.Chapter-II Unit Linked Insurance Products
