IRDAI puts Care Health Insurance on notice over ESOPs to Saluja
regulator has issued a show cause notice to Religare Enterprises subsidiary, Care Health Insurance (Care), in relation to the grant of stock options to Rashmi Saluja, the Religare chairperson, said sources aware of the development.
The board of Religare, which in turn owns Care, and the promoter family of Dabur are locked in a protracted battle over the control of Religare. The Burman family made an open offer to minority investors of Religare and has accused the board of giving Saluja stock options in alleged violation of rules.
In the show cause notice, which was issued last month, the regulator has alleged Care failed to comply with the directions of the Insurance and Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDAI), sources added.
The stock options were issued even after the regulator, through a letter in May 2022, disallowed Care from allotting ESOPs to Saluja as she is a non-executive director on the board of Care.
As per IRDAI guidelines, a threshold of ₹10 lakh per year is stipulated for payment to non-executive directors. However, despite the regulator's refusal, Care issued the ESOPs to Saluja as an employee of Religare Enterprises, an action IRDAI believes is in defiance of its directions.
Apart from being a non-executive director on the board of Care, Saluja is the executive chairperson of Religare Enterprises. which owns Care Health. The show-cause notice has asked Care why a penalty should not be imposed against the company and why proceedings should not be initiated against the company under the
