The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has mooted that all micro-variable products should have a lock-in period of five years from the date of inception of the policy.
In the new draft norms on micro-insurance, the regulator said surrenders would not be allowed, but partial withdrawals may be permitted in some cases.
For the distribution of micro-insurance products, regional rural banks, micro-finance institutions, district cooperative banks, non-governmental organisations, self-help groups, urban cooperative banks, banking correspondents, among others, could be allowed.
It said that all the stakeholders should submit their feedback to IRDA before February.