The apathy, meanwhile, has started affecting insurance companies that regularly coordinate with the regulatory body to carry out various works.[break]
Prime Life Insurance is one such victim. Resta Jha, CEO of the company, told Republica the IB has not approved his company´s balance sheet yet due to the ongoing strike.
“If the board fails to endorse the balance sheet in time, we will have to postpone our annual general meeting scheduled for mid-January,” he said. As a CEO of a professional company, he explained, he does not want such delay to occur, as “it will send wrong message to our shareholders and affect our credibility”.
Nepal Life Insurance Company (NLIC) is another firm that has started feeling uneasy due to virtual closure of the IB. Rameshwor Shrestha, chief finance officer of the company, said his company was mulling over sending a new insurance product to the regulatory body for approval, but has put the plan in hold.
The case of NLIC may not be a pressing one, but what about the individuals, who want to file complaints against insurance companies for rejecting or delaying to compensate them, questioned an expert.
The IB, apart from regulating the insurance companies, also works as a court, as this is the first place where customers who feel cheated by insurers must go to file their complaints.
Employees of the IB had launched the strike on November 20, saying that the management reneged on the promise made two years ago.
At that time, the agitating staff claimed, the management had signed a written agreement to provide daily allowance of Rs 150 to each employee, introduce housing plan for the workforce and send each staff member on a 15-day forced leave every year. Other demands included annual distribution of additional five months of salary and allowances, modification in voluntary retirement scheme and change in organizational structure.
On top of that, employees have also been asking for promotions in case the IB is converted into the Insurance Authority, which is expected to happen once the new Insurance Act is enforced.
“We have multiple demands, but are ready to show flexibility during negotiations. But the management has not yet invited us for talks,” said Purna Bahadur Thapa, president of the Employee Association of IB. He charged the chief of the Board of deliberately avoiding the talks.
Dr Fatta Bahadur KC, chairman of the IB, however, said that he had not called for meeting because he has no authority to fulfill all their demands. "Their demands have been forwarded to the finance ministry. I believe the ministry will take some decision on it soon after the finance minister and secretary (who are abroad) returns,” he said.
Thapa, however, said the employees were ready to end the protest program if the management expressed commitment to take the issues raised by them seriously.
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