The council had decided to temporarily shelve the proposal to standardise the sales illustrations of life insurers. (See )

ASI's note deals with the manner in which sales illustrations are to be prepared by life insurers and makes it mandatory for the appointed actuaries to authorise them.

Appointed actuaries have to implement the guidance notes issued by ASI, failing which the latter can take disciplinary action against them.

Mr Liyaquat Khan, president, ASI says, the decision of the Life Insurance Council to postpone the implementation of its professional guidance note by the life insurers, has forced ASI to withdraw the note so as to relieve its members.

The norms were to come into effect from 1^st January 2004. However the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) wrote to the insurers about its decision to defer them
(See )

According to industry sources, the sales illustration norms were discussed at the Life Insurance Council's recent meeting. The major reason for shelving the proposal is said to be the inability of the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) to stick to the January 1^st 2004 deadline.

For LIC, the implementation of the norms means preparation of illustrations of hundreds of its products (in different languages) and making its huge agency force follow the same, involving huge expense and effort.

According to sources, the idea was mooted at the council meeting to exempt LIC from this but was promptly shot down by representatives of private insurers as they found it to be discriminatory in nature.

When contacted IRDA member (Life) and chairman, Executive Committee Life Insurance Council T K Banerjee said: "I am not in a position to confirm or deny anything."