The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India said the Council for Insurance Ombudsmen, under its guidance, is conducting an orientation programme for all Insurance Ombudsmen from 20 to 23 May 2026 at IRDAI headquarters in Hyderabad. The programme is intended to strengthen the ombudsman mechanism by building institutional capacity, promoting greater consistency in grievance redressal practices and sharing perspectives on emerging issues in the insurance sector. At the programme, Department of Financial Services Secretary M. Nagaraju called for empathetic, policyholder-centric handling of grievances and wider use of digital tools, appropriate policies and technology-driven processes. IRDAI Chairman Ajay Seth asked participants to focus on operational gaps including recurring mis-selling, low public awareness of grievance redressal channels, complaints pending beyond 90 days, delays in complaint registration, non-entertainable complaints and the need to increase video conference hearings. During 2025-26, Insurance Ombudsmen decided 41,055 grievances, with 79% decided in favour of policyholders.