29Prohibition of loans

¹[29. Prohibition of loans.--(1) No insurer shall grant loans or temporary advances either on hypothecation of property or on personal security or otherwise, except loans on life insurance policies issued by him within their surrender value, to any director, manager, actuary, auditor or officer of the insurer, if a company or to any other company or firm in which any such director, manager, actuary or officer holds the position of a director, manager, actuary, officer or partner:

Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall apply to such loans, made by an insurer to a banking company, as may be specified by the Authority:

Provided further that nothing in this section shall prohibit a company from granting such loans or advances to a subsidiary company or to any other company of which the company granting the loan or advance is a subsidiary company if the previous approval of the Authority is obtained for such loan or advance.

(2) The provisions of section 185 of the Companies Act, 2013 (18 of 2013) shall not apply to a loan granted to a director of an insurer being a company, if the loan is one granted on the security of a policy on which the insurer bears the risk and the policy was issued to the director on his own life, and the loan is within the surrender value of the policy.

(3) Subject to the provisions of sub-section (1), no insurer shall grant--

(a) any loans or temporary advances either on hypothecation of property or on personal security or otherwise, except such loans as may be specified by the regulations including the loans sanctioned as part of their salary package to the full-time employees of the insurer as per the scheme duly approved by its Board of Directors;

(b) temporary advances to any insurance agent to facilitate the carrying out of his functions as such except in cases where such advances do not exceed in the aggregate the renewal commission earned by him during the immediately preceding year.

(4) Where any event occurs giving rise to circumstances, the existence of which at the time of grant of any subsisting loan or advance would have made such grant a contravention of this section, such loan or advance shall, notwithstanding anything in any contract to the contrary, be repaid within three months from the occurrence of such event.

(5) In case of default in complying with the provisions of sub-section (4), the director, manager, auditor, actuary, officer or insurance agent concerned shall, without prejudice to any other penalty which he may incur, cease to hold office under, or to act for, the insurer granting the loan on the expiry of three months.]