IRDAI (Regulatory Sandbox) Regulations 2025 notified

IRDAI has notified the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Regulatory Sandbox) Regulations, 2025

The objective of IRDAI (Regulatory Sandbox) Regulations 2025 is to create a Regulatory Sandbox to facilitate innovation in the insurance sector while ensuring orderly development of the insurance sector and protection of interests of the policyholders and to facilitate creation of regulatory sandbox environment and to relax such provisions of any existing Regulations framed by the Authority for a limited scope and limited duration, if such a relaxation is necessary during the experiment period.

The Regulatory sandbox regulations defines an applicant including insurer or insurance intermediary or a person other than individual having a net worth of Rs 10 lakhs and a standing of one financial year (b) any other person specified by the IRDAI seeking singly or jointly permission for promoting innovation in insurance in India.

An applicant may apply to the Competent Authority seeking permission for promoting or implementing innovation in insurance in India across the insurance value chain and in any area that requires relaxation of any provision of the Regulations, Notification, Master Circular, Guidelines, Circular or any other communication issued by the Authority, except for areas involving prudential and financial condition/stability matters, such as capital, liquidity, investment, solvency, reserving and such other areas as decided by the Authority from time to time

The IRDAI may lay down such eligibility criteria, as it deems fit, for the applicants. The IRDAI may lay down the parameter for the experimentation stage of regulatory sandbox, liabilities and responsibilities of the applicant who is granted permission, as it deems fit.

The Competent Authority, under the Regulations, on being satisfied that the applicant meets the eligibility criteria and other specified requirements, and that the application:

(a) promotes innovation beneficial to insurance sector in India, and

(b) is in the interest of the policyholders; or

(c) is conducive for the orderly growth of the industry; or

(d) would promote increase in insurance penetration in the country; or

(e) bring in efficiency in insurance business; or

(f) promotes ease of doing insurance business;

grant the permission which shall be valid for an experiment period as specified

The Regulations also provide for relaxation of one or more provisions of any Regulations to the applicant subject to the conditions given. 

• Object of assessment proceedings is not to find empirically correct solution on every fact issue – HC
• Penalty u/s 270A deleted as assessee filed revised computation during scrutiny
• Penalty u/s 271B for unfilled column 40 in Tax Audit Report Form 3CD deleted by ITAT
• Merely ex-parte rectifying computation without amending assessment order not make it nullity- ITAT
• Once assessee discharges primary onus, it shifts to AO to bring evidence to contrary – ITAT