Visakhapatnam: Voicing their views against 100 percent FDI in the insurance sector, Insurance Corporation Employees Union (ICEU) and Federation of LIC Class I Officers Association, Visakhapatnam division jointly staged a protest in the city.

Condemning the Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill 2025 tabled by the Union Finance Minister, they stated that the government has deployed pro-people rhetoric to legitimise a policy that essentially undermines public interest.

“The Bill seeks to amend three laws: Insurance Act 1938, Life Insurance Corporation Act 1956 and Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act 1999.

The stated objectives of the amendments are to accelerate growth of the insurance sector, enhance policyholder protection, improve ease of doing business, and strengthen regulatory transparency and oversight.

However, a closer scrutiny makes it clear that the real intent seems something else as it aims at handing over India’s precious domestic savings to foreign capital on a platter,” the ICEU representatives mentioned during the demonstration. They further said that the FDI hike to 100 percent will neither benefit the Indian economy nor bring any benefit to the insuring public.

“This will only enable the foreign capital to gain greater access and control over the domestic savings that play an important role in the development of the economy,” the ICEU representatives stated.

All the major foreign companies are already operating in the country in partnership with domestic insurers. The existing FDI limit of 74 percent is more than adequate and is not an obstacle to the growth and expansion of the private sector in insurance business, they stressed.

The protest demonstrations saw participation of M Kameshwari, president, ICEU, G Varaprasad, general secretary, Sathya Babu, general secretary, Class I Officers Association, M Trinadh, president, LIC Class I Officers Federation, B Ganapathi Ramu, general secretary, LIC SC/ST Employees Association, R Phaneendra, general secretary, LIC OBC Employees Association, among others.