new delhi, July 27 -- Mis-selling remains one of the insurance industry's biggest challenges, and tackling it will require holding individual salespeople-not just intermediaries-accountable, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) chairman Ajay Seth said on Saturday. Speaking at the silver jubilee conclave of the Insurance Brokers Association of India (Ibai) in New Delhi, Seth said insurers should be able to trace every policy back to the individual point of sales person (Posp), agent or salesperson who sold it. "At present, such a database does not exist." Currently, in bancassurance and broker-led sales, insurers typically identify only the intermediary, such as a bank or insurance broker, and not the individual who advised the customer and sold the policy. "This gap would be addressed through the proposed Public Insurance Registry, which is being developed to improve transparency and accountability across the insurance distribution chain. Once it is in place, it can help tackle mis-selling," Seth told Mint on the sidelines of the event. He said insurers must also scrutinize customer complaints more closely to identify where failures occur. "Identify who went wrong in the system. I accept that not every grievance will be genuine. But if a complaint is found to be genuine, those responsible must be held accountable. Hire Posps with due diligence because they are the ones interacting with customers. When they change jobs, their history should be visible," Seth said. The push comes amid a rise in complaints over unfair business practices. Grievances against life insurers under this category rose 14% year-on-year to 26,667 in fiscal year 2025 (FY25), according to Irdai's annual report. Such complaints accounted for 22.14% of all grievances against life insurers during the year, up from 19.33% in FY24. Seth said Irdai's vision of "Insurance for All" is not merely about expanding premium collections but ensuring insurance is available, accessible and affordable across income groups and regions. "The product should be available, it should be accessible, and it should be affordable for the needs and budgets of different segments of society and all parts of the country," he said. He urged insurers to look beyond the country's relatively well-served customers....