Bangladesh’s Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) has given insurance companies six weeks to remove hidden or duplicate servers and consolidate their data systems. IDRA Chairman Mir Nadia Nivin announced the deadline on Friday, August 28, at an Insurance Reporters Forum workshop at Bangladesh Academy for Rural Development in Cumilla. She said companies that fail to comply will face legal action.

Nivin said data submitted by many life and non-life insurers does not always reflect their actual operations, premium income or financial condition. Multiple servers can prevent the regulator from obtaining a complete picture, she said. IDRA has written to the Bangladesh Insurance Association and Bangladesh Insurance Forum on the matter and plans technological audits to identify undisclosed systems.

The chairman said IDRA aims to fully introduce risk-based supervision by December and launch a sector-wide unique policy ID within three to four months. She also outlined coordination plans with Bangladesh Bank, the National Board of Revenue and the securities regulator. Separately, she said payments of overdue insurance claims from monetised assets of seven to eight troubled companies would begin next week.