Iffco-Tokio moves IRDA in J&K Bank case

NEW DELHI: Iffco-Tokio General Insurance Co has approached the insurance regulator saying it has been falsely implicated in the Rs 600 crore alleged fraud involving the J&K Bank.

In a letter last month, Iffco-Tokio has written to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) seeking to “dispel any misinformation.” The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Jammu & Kashmir has alleged that former chairman of J&K Bank, Parvez Ahmed Nengroo, “facilitated” expost facto approval from the bank’s board of directors to “favour” Iffco-Tokio.

ACB has booked Nengroo on charges of favouritism and alleged abuse of his position as the bank’s chairman. It is alleged that Iffco-Tokio hired Nengroo’s close relative, Asif Manzoor Beigh, at a plum post in lieu of J&K Bank entering into a ‘bancassurance’ deal with the insurance company.

Iffco-Tokio denied the charge of a quid pro quo in its representation to Irda. “The ACB states that by hiring Asif Manzoor Beigh, Iffco-Tokio received undue benefits. This is not correct because we are yet to get access to all J&K Bank branches in the country for distributing our products. We are now servicing the branches in the Anantnag and Srinagar districts only,” the insurer said.

Further contesting the claims of ACB on alleged loss caused to the exchequer, Iffco-Tokio said “in the quarter of 2019-20, we have sourced Rs 10.4 crore business from J&K Bank and have paid Rs 95 lakh as commission.”

The company has further elaborated that the customers in J&K stood to benefit with the bank breaking the “monopoly” and opening the market, which till then remained solely with Bajaj Allianz.

Source: The Economic Times