Policybazaar

Coming to the first story.

So on 24th September, shares of PB Fintech, the company behind Policybazaar, closed about 36% lower, and fellow insurance distributor Turtlemint fell 20%.

The trigger was a consultation paper from India's insurance regulator, IRDAI, proposing big changes to how insurance is sold.

Now, banks and non-banking financial companies, or NBFCs, earn money from selling insurance, too.

But whether commission caps can make cover cheaper and help more people get insured is the harder question.

Now, for an insurer, commission is an expense, but for its distributor, it's revenue.

If the proposals go through, lower payouts would put immediate pressure on distributors such as Policybazaar and Turtlemint.

They would still need to pay for advertising, call centers, sales help, and customer service, and doing the job well may take just as much work for each policy, even if it pays less.