New Delhi, April 29 -- New Delhi: India's insurance regulator is planning a sweeping overhaul of how policies are sold, including tighter scrutiny of banks and a discussion paper on distribution reforms, as it looks to curb mis-selling and high costs in the sector.

In an interview on Tuesday, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) chairman Ajay Seth said that the next phase of insurance reforms will focus less on headline liberalization and more on fixing structural inefficiencies in pricing, distribution and customer outcomes.

Irdai is also working with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to tighten oversight of banks selling insurance products, while pushing for a lower-cost and more transparent model.

"We are co...