IRDAI Regulation 28 September 2025 · 6 min read · 9 reads · Knowledge Cafe

Cashless Everywhere: How IRDAI's 1-Hour & 3-Hour Hospital Approval Rules Actually Work

Reference: Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI)

IRDAI Regulation · 6 min read · Bima Sahayak Legal Research Desk

Policyholders no longer need to be restricted solely to an insurer's pre-empaneled network list to avail cashless treatment, provided statutory intimation norms are met. Furthermore, IRDAI's Master Circular mandates strict time-bound turnarounds:

1-Hour Cashless Authorization: Insurers must decide on emergency cashless authorization requests within 60 minutes.
3-Hour Final Discharge Approval: Final settlement authorization at discharge must be granted within 3 hours of receiving the discharge request from the hospital. If delayed beyond 3 hours, any additional hospital charges are borne by the insurer from shareholders' funds.

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