IRDAI asks insurance companies to lay down social media guidelines for employees

IRDAI has asked insurance companies to lay down social media guidelines for their employees to ensure that no unverified or confidential information relating to the organisation is disseminated to the public through these platforms.

An organisation's reputation is closely linked to the behaviour of its employees, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) said, adding 'Social media should be used in a way that adds value to the organisation's business'.

The Information and Cyber Security Guidelines, which were issued by Irdai to all insurers, have a specific section on 'Acceptable usage of social media', which states that the employees should be refrained from disseminating any unverified and confidential information on "any Blogs/Chat forums/Discussion forums/Messenger sites/Social networking sites"

The guidelines are applicable to all insurers, including foreign re-insurance branches (FRBs) and insurance intermediaries regulated by the Irdai.

In 2017, the regulator issued guidelines on Information and Cyber Security for Insurers, which were later extended to all intermediaries in 2022.

Considering the widespread adoption of digital technologies and the concurrent increase in cyber security incidents, Irdai has revised the guidelines to enable the insurance industry to strengthen its defences and a related governance mechanism to deal with such emerging cyber threats.