New Delhi: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) has said that it favoured a hike in foreign direct investment cap in insurance from 26 to 49 per cent. "FDI hike is a matter of policy. The finance minister has already announced it in the budget. We do support it," C S Rao, chairman, IRDA, said at a FICCI seminar on insurance on Monday.

Rao said he also favoured legislative amendments to ensure greater flexibility in investments by insurance companies.

"The Law Commission has submitted a report on a comprehensive insurance legislation to the finance ministry," he said.

On the unfair practices being adopted by some corporate agents, Rao said IRDA would come up with stringent guidelines to safeguard the interest of consumers and insurers.

"We would issue some guidelines on the manner of selection of corporate agents, the manner in which their activities should be monitored, and precautions to be taken so that there is complete disclosure of the policy implications for the clients," he said.

Rao said advertisements by corporate agents that misled consumers to believe that they were insurers is a problem that needs to be addressed. "We would like to prevent it before it (the problem) becomes big," he said.