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KATHMANDU — Employees at the Nepal Insurance Authority have entered their third day of workplace protests, demanding that the regulator restore recently cut facilities and bring their benefits in line with those offered at other financial regulators.
The demonstrations, which began Monday, September 22, have taken the form of sit-ins and internal discussions held during office hours, with staff pressing both the Authority's leadership and the Ministry of Finance to act.
At the heart of the dispute is a perceived gap between what insurance regulatory staff receive and the packages enjoyed by employees at institutions such as Nepal Rastra Bank and the Securities Board of Nepal (SEBON). Protesting staff argue that those bodies have successfully negotiated better terms with the Ministry of Finance, while the Insurance Authority's leadership has not pushed as hard on their behalf.
One employee involved in the protest said the Authority's failure to coordinate effectively with the Ministry of Finance had left staff "forced to work with fewer benefits."
Employees say the immediate trigger was a sharp reduction in the Authority's approved budget for staff benefits — reportedly cut from a proposed figure of around Rs 10 million down to just Rs 1.5 million. That shortfall, they say, has already had visible consequences: transportation facilities for staff were suspended starting Wednesday, a move that has drawn particular criticism from the workforce.
Staff maintain that trimming benefits that were already modest — at a time when other regulators are expanding theirs — sends the wrong signal, especially amid rising living costs. They frame their demands as institutional rather than personal, warning that uncompetitive pay and conditions could eventually undermine the regulator's efficiency and its ability to oversee the insurance sector effectively.
Beyond pay and benefits, protesting employees have also criticized what they describe as weak coordination between the Authority's senior leadership and both government agencies and the insurance industry itself. They allege this has left insurance company executives dissatisfied as well, not just Authority staff.
A second employee argued that shortcomings in the leadership's outreach to the Ministry of Finance and to insurance company executives have had consequences reaching beyond the staff themselves, and said the protest would continue until demands are met.
Amid the protests, staff met Wednesday with Nepal Insurance Authority Executive Director Sushil Dev Subedi to lay out their demands and discuss the benefit cuts directly. Employees say the meeting focused on three core asks: parity with other regulatory bodies, restoration of previously available facilities, and more assertive engagement by the Authority's leadership with government counterparts.
Staff have indicated they do not view the campaign as a push for personal gain, but rather as an effort to protect the institution's long-term standing. They say sit-ins and pressure programs will continue during office hours until the leadership responds, raising the prospect of continued disruption to the regulator's day-to-day operations.
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