IRDA

• The Insurance Regulatory and Development

Authority of India (IRDAI) is an
autonomous, statutory body tasked with regulating
and promoting the insurance and re-
insurance industries in India.
•  It was constituted by the Insurance Regulatory and
Development Authority Act, 1999, an Act of
Parliament passed by the Government of India. The
agency's headquarters are in Hyderabad, Telangana,
where it moved from Delhi in 2001.
 GOVERNING BODY
• IRDAI is a 10-member body including
• the chairman,
• five full-time and
• four part-time members appointed by the
government of India.
 Postal Services
•  The government at national and international level provides
postal services.
(i) Features
• (a) All the postal services arc controlled by the government.
• (b) The postal department provides services at national as
well as international level.
• (c) Post offices also started speed post service to compete
with courier service.
(ii) Drawbacks
• (a) Slow in speed
• (b) Bureaucratic in nature
 Postal Services:
•  This service is required by every business to send and receive  letters,

market reports, parcel, money order etc.on regular. All these services are

provided by the post and telegraph offices scattered throughout the country.

The postal department performs the following services.

• 1. Financial Services: They provide postal banking facilities to the general

public and mobilize their savings through the following saving schemes like

public provident fund (PPF), KisanVikasPatra, National Saving Certificate,

Recurring Deposit Scheme and Money Order facility.

• 2. Mail Services: The mail services offered by post offices includes

transmission of messages through postcards, Inland letters, envelops etc.

The various mail services all:

• Financial facilities: Post offices provide a variety of
savings facilities to the public. Some of these
schemes are mentioned below:
• (i) Public Provident Fund (PPF)
• (ii) Kisan Vikas Patra
• (iii) National Saving Certificate (NSC)
• (iv) Recurring Deposit Scheme
• (v) Fixed Deposit Scheme
• (vi) Money order facility
 Mail facilities
• Mail facilities primarily include the following three kinds of services:
• (i)Parcel facilities: They facilitate the movement of an article from one
place to another.
• (ii) Registration facilities: They provide security to the article being
transmitted.
• (iii) Insurance facilities: They cover the risks involved in transmission by
post.
• Some of the mail facilities provided by the banks are as follows:
• (i) Post cards: It is the cheapest form of postal service.
• (ii) Letter: It ensures the secrecy of the information conveyed, and is
placed in an envelope.
• (iii) Registered post: Registered post ensures that the mail registered is
delivered to the addressee or returned to the sender if it is not delivered.
 Allied facilities
• Post offices also provide a variety of allied services to
customers.
• (i) Passport service: Post offices accept passport applications
on behalf of the Ministry of External Affairs.
• (ii) Media Post: These include aerograms and letters through
which the corporate companies can advertise their brands.
• (iii) Direct Post: These include brochures, questionnaires,
pamphlets and CDs/floppies through which addressed as well
as unaddressed advertisement can be delivered.
• (iv) Speed Post: It involves fast and speedy transfer of articles
to the addressees within a specified period.