The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has withdrawn permission given to TPAs in 2005 to offer their services to bodies other than insurance companies, such as Central and State governments. The Third Party Administrators (TPAs) in health insurance will now have to confine their services only to an insurance company.
In a circular issued on Tuesday, Mr J. Hari Narayan, Chairman, IRDA, said licensed TPAs could not enter into arrangements for servicing health schemes promoted, sponsored or approved by any non-insurance body, including Central, State, local governments, corporates, and so on.
If any TPA is desirous of offering services to anybody (any schemes) other than an insurance company, it should first surrender its licence to the IRDA.