'Don't see major impact of proposed mis-selling norms'

Following Axis Max Life Insurance’s Q3FY26 earnings, Sumit Madan, managing director (MD) and chief executive officer (CEO) of the company, spoke to Aathira Varier and Subrata Panda in a video interview about the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI's) proposed guidelines on mis-selling and their likely impact on the company and the sector, the firm’s business plans going forward, and the status of its reverse merger with Max Financial Services, among other issues. Edited excerpts:

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What is your initial sense of the RBI's draft norms on prevention of mis-selling?

From a customer standpoint, the circular appears positive. If penetration and mis-selling are concerns, the circular is moving in the right direction. I view it rather positively. There has been some discussion around credit life being the impacted segment. For Axis Max Life, credit life contributes around 1 per cent or less to the overall business. At this point, I do not see any major impact on the company.

There has been considerable discussion on the impact on the credit life segment...

The intent of the circular is that a credit life product should not be unduly pushed or mis-sold to a customer who has come to take a loan. In the banks we work with, there is a detailed process in place. An interest analysis is conducted and separate consent is obtained from the customer. While the regulation is somewhat generic in nature, most banks have already implemented the necessary changes. Moreover, we are relatively small in the credit life space, with total sales volume from this segment at around 1 per cent.

Your profits have declined slightly in the quarter. What led to the decline?