ALL ODISHA PRIVATE BUS OWNERS ASSOCIATION & ORS. Vs. INSURANCE REGULATORY AND DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY & ORS.

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These petitions are filed by the All Odisha Private Bus Owners' Association represented by its General Secretary and four other individuals and also Orissa State Truck Owners Federation represented by its General Secretary assailing the action of opposite party No. 1, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (in short 'IRDA') in fixing the existing rates for coverage of the premiums to be paid by owners of all the Motor Vehicles classified in the Annexure to the notification for different class of vehicles vide notification dated 15-4-2011 produced at Annexure-6 in supersession of its earlier notification Ref. No. 043/IRDA/DE-Tariff/Jan-07 dated 23-1-2007 urging various facts and grounds in support of their case and prayed for issuing a writ of certiorari to quash the same.

(2.) Brief facts are stated hereunder:- The Government of India in the year 1968 amended the Insurance Act, 1938 in order to regulate investments and set minimum solvency margins. Accordingly, Tariff Advisory Committee ('TAC' in short) was set up to control and regulate the rates, advantages, terms and conditions that may be offered by insurers in respect of any risk or of any class or category of risk. In the year 1972, the Parliament has enacted statutory enactment Nationalising the General Insurance Business w.e.f. 1-1-1973. Accordingly, 107 insurers were amalgamated and grouped into four companies, namely, National Insurance Company Ltd. the New India Assurance Company Ltd, the Oriental Insurance Company Ltd. and the United India Insurance Company Ltd. The General Insurance Corporation of India was incorporated as a Company in the year 1971 and it commenced its business w.e.f. 1-1-1973.

(3.) It is the case of the petitioners that with the passage of time the insurance sector had vastly expanded with vide ranging business interest in various fields in India, the Government of India intended to reopen the insurance sector for bigger and better participation by private companies. Therefore, the Government of India had set up a Committee under the Chairmanship of Sri R. N. Malhotra, former Governor of the Reserve Bank of India to make recommendations for reforms in the insurance sector. The objective was to complement the reforms initiated in the financial sector. The said Committee submitted its report in the year 1994 which recommended that the private sector be permitted to enter the insurance industry and even foreign companies be allowed to enter the insurance industry, preferably a joint venture with Indian companies. One of the recommendation by the Committee was that Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority may be constituted as autonomous body to regulate and develop the insurance industry in India. Accordingly, the IRDA was incorporated as a statutory body in April, 2000 under the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999 (hereinafter called as 'IRDA' Act). The objectives of the IRDA was to promote competition so as to enhance customer satisfaction through increased consumer choice and lower premiums while ensuring the financial security of the insurance market. With the establishment of the IRDA, the insurance industry was opened up to provide participation and various private companies registered themselves as insurer for carrying on insurance business in India. In Dec., 2000 the subsidiaries of the General Insurance Corporation of India were restructured as independent companies and at the same time General Insurance Corporation of India (in short 'GIC') was converted into a National re-insurer.