ISLAMABAD: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan(SECP) has proposed increasing the number of Insurance Tribunals and Small Dispute Resolution Committees and establishing an integrated digital complaint system to improve the resolution of policyholders’ grievances nationwide.
The recommendations are contained in the SECP report, “Strengthening Insurance Grievance Redressal in Pakistan: Current Status and Strategic Way Forward,” which reviews existing mechanisms for resolving insurance-related complaints.
According to the report, the country’s grievance-resolution forums collectively received 37,029 complaints in 2025, highlighting the need for stronger coordination, wider access and faster disposal of cases.
The SECP has recommended that the Ministry of Law and Justice increase the number of Insurance Tribunals based on geographical needs, publish a list of Sessions Courts designated as Insurance Tribunals and ensure the timely appointment of tribunal members.
The report also calls for expanding the geographical coverage and scope of Small Dispute Resolution Committees, periodically reviewing their financial thresholds and digitizing their operations through online complaint submission and document-sharing facilities.
To improve coordination among grievance forums, the SECP has proposed a formal mechanism for sharing information and consolidating complaint data involving the SECP, Federal Insurance Ombudsman, Wafaqi Mohtasib, Insurance Tribunals, SDRCs and insurance companies.
The report recommends including complaint volumes, resolution rates, disposal times and emerging trends in the Insurance Industry Statistics Report to strengthen evidence-based regulatory oversight.
To address overlapping jurisdictions, the SECP has suggested legal and administrative measures to transfer complaints involving public-sector insurers to the Federal Insurance Ombudsman, in line with an understanding reached among relevant authorities.
The report also recommends that grievance forums publish complaint-resolution timelines and that insurance companies clearly inform policyholders about the procedures available for resolving their complaints.
It further calls for a coordinated public-awareness campaign and a stronger role for the Insurance Association of Pakistan in promoting consistent complaint-handling practices across the insurance industry.
SECP Chairman Dr. Kabir Ahmed Sidhu said stronger coordination and greater use of technology could help reduce complaint-resolution times, improve accountability and ensure that policyholders have access to effective grievance-redressal forums.
The report provides an action-oriented framework that assigns proposed measures to relevant stakeholders, with the aim of improving access to grievance redressal and the overall experience of insurance policyholders.
