Frame social media guidelines for employees: IRDAI to insurance cos

Insurance regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) has asked insurance companies to lay down social media guidelines for the employees to “safeguard the working environment” for them as well as partners.

The insurance regulator, in its guidelines titled ‘Information and cyber security guidelines’, has said an organisation’s reputation is closely linked to the behavior of its employees, and everything published reflects on how it is perceived. "Social media should be used in a way that adds value to the Organisation’s business."

To help avoid any conflict between personal use of social media and an employee’s employment at any organisation, the IRDAI has said when subscribing to or posting information online, employees “must not” use their organisation email or other details, unless the use is required for genuine business and professional purposes.

"Any personal internet posting or communication (for example blogs, messages, posting or tweets) of any sort should be identified as your own individual and personal interactions."

It says any personal image projected on social media affects an individual’s reputation and may affect the organisation's reputation. "No form of critique or comment on Organisation or its business should be made on personal websites or social networking platforms."

In a separate section on the acceptable usage of social media, the IRDAI says employees will refrain from disseminating any unverified and confidential information related to any organisation on any blogs/chat forums/discussion forums/messenger sites/social networking sites. "Media Forum should not be used to report a service fault or to make a complaint."

The purpose of these guidelines, as per the IRDAI, is to provide a user-centric trusted set of resources and environment for employees to conduct business, while ensuring the protection of organisation’s information assets including customer data. "Ensuring the security of all Organisation’s information assets through the implementation of up-to-date security mechanisms for prevention and monitoring of threats; governance of information security related activities and awareness of all employees," says the regulatory body.

The general insurance industry in India is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.9% from $29.39 billion in 2021 to $41.78 billion in 2026, in terms of gross written premiums (GWP), forecasts by data and analytics company GlobalData shows.

India’s life insurance industry, on the other hand, is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.5% from $128 billion in 2023 to $170.6 billion in 2027, in terms of gross written premiums (GWP), forecasts by data and analytics company GlobalData shows.

The Indian life insurance industry’s growth is forecasted to peak at 14.3% in 2023. The growth will be supported by the introduction of conducive regulatory policies, increasing insurance awareness, and product innovation aided by the licensing of new insurance companies.