Integral to insurance

Died: Fali Ardeshir Poncha, 85, regarded as an authority on insurance and reinsurance matters, and one of the early members of the Committee for Electoral Rights (CER) that sought to involve the Parsi community in the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) trusteeship elections nearly four decades earlier; on December 25, 2019 in Bombay.
"An octogenarian seated somewhere in the middle would get up and ask questions most relevant for the broking community. The voice was resonant. The delivery was in his flawless English laced with Gujarati and Parsi accents. He did not merely raise questions; he also had suggestions to make. His opinions and suggestions were sought by all in the industry, especially by the Insurance Brokers Association of India and Regulatory Authorities. His was a voice heard at the Bombay Chamber of Commerce where he was an active participant on matters concerning insurance,” noted a condolence message to the family from a business associate N. Girishankar.
Poncha was chairman of International Reinsurance and Insurance Consultancy and Broking Services Private Limited (IRICBS), a consultancy company he started in 1993 and where he continued to serve as chairman until his demise. During his chairmanship, he created an unparalleled legacy for the insurance industry in India as acknowledged several of his business associates. For five years he was invited as a member on the insurance advisory committee of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.
"With his passing away, insurance and reinsurance sector has lost one of its longest serving experts, full of insight and knowledge and at the same time humane, helpful and gentle. He was in fact the grand old man of Indian insurance and reinsurance. We cherish our interactions, times spent with him as also the professional relationship between IRICBS and Royal Sundaram,” remarked managing director of Royal Sundaram, M. S. Sreedhar.
"His most notable traits were his honesty and integrity and the thoroughness he showed in dealing with business matters. Even more endearing were his characteristic humility and gracious disposition. He leaves a huge void in the insurance industry,” attested business colleagues H. Gangadharan and Seetha Gangadharan.
Giving him credit for building "a great business based on technical expertise, relationships and integrity,” Richard Posgate, chief executive officer, Asia Pacific of Aon Reinsurance Solutions APAC added, IRICBS "is now the strongest reinsurance broker in India and highly respected.”

Fali Poncha (top and above) with Rajarambapu Patil (?)

To Ramaswamy Athappan, chairman of Singapore Reinsurance Corporation Limited, Poncha was "a mentor and father figure. He always had kind words of encouragement and optimism. I immensely valued his wisdom, cherished his guidance and always held him in highest esteem.”
Poncha hailed from a family that has been in the insurance business for almost 160 years as agents, insurers and brokers. A double graduate in arts and commerce, he later qualified as a chartered accountant and worked for private insurance firms like Hercules Insurance in the pre-nationalization days and subsequently for the United India Insurance company and the General Insurance Corporation (GIC) of India.
In 1977 he left GIC of India as manager of technical and underwriting and joined the Tata Group. During his 16 years there, he set up two very successful companies: Tata Risk Management Services (now Tata AIG General Insurance Company Limited) and Tata Housing Development Company Limited, notes his life sketch. As managing director of Tata Housing he transformed a fledgling company into a household name. One of his sterling projects was the construction of Cama Park Colony at Andheri with 503 ownership flats for Parsis.
He was included in the specially constituted 16-member consultative committee set up in August 2019, comprising "prominent Parsis from different walks of life with specialist skill sets” to advise the current BPP trustees. Earlier when Jamsheed Kanga, Dadi Engineer, Tehmtan Andhyarujina, Silloo Kavarana and others started the CER in the early 1980s to reform the electoral process and register voters, Poncha joined the team to help the CER win the then Anjuman Committee elections.
In 1984 he contested the BPP trusteeship elections as a CER candidate but lost to noted lawyer Homi Ranina. Poncha’s aim, as expressed in his manifesto, was to help the Parsi Zoroastrian community "reach new heights of economic prosperity, strength of character and sincerity of purpose.” But the lasting image of the debate between the two contenders at the Birla Matushree Sabhagar hall on June 13, 1984 was of Poncha tearing up a report on repairs to Ness Baug and flinging the pieces to the foot of the stage.
In an interview with Parsiana (see "Poncha’s Punchayet Plans,” January 1984) he had then stated, "It may take the next 100 years to improve the economic condition of the community but should that deter us from making a start?” The financial and housing expert had been inducted on the BPP’s Committee for Economic Uplift of Parsi Zoroastrians chaired by Jamshed Guzder. On the then touchy subject of allotment of housing, the CER was emphatic, "If you want to gain the confidence of the community, you must not only be fair but appear to be fair.”

Fali Poncha (seated 3^rd from r) with his family

On the religious front, Poncha’s rational views suggesting co-housing of fires instead of maintaining numerous fire temples had earned the ire of the orthodox who questioned whether he wore the sudreh-kusti. But Poncha had confirmed in the Parsiana interview that he "prays daily, goes to the fire temple on special occasions, puts more emphasis doing things than on saying things.” A principled man, he made every effort to correct or change things that he felt were wrong. After cremation, his final rites were performed at the Worli Prayer Hall.
In the early 1980s through some generous donations and his own contribution he had taken it upon himself to renovate the Parsi Ward in the J. J. Hospital that had been severely neglected, according to his life profile. He was ever willing to assist those less fortunate in life. His junior at Sydenham College, Zarin Kothawala remembered Fali as always being "helpful and ready to help anyone. On more than one occasion, he has come to my rescue.”
A dog lover, he had at least two dogs at home. His last four dogs were strays who were rescued and he would make time in his busy schedule to walk them twice a day at the Mahalaxmi racecourse. A great aficionado of western classical music, he was a regular at the National Centre for the Performing Arts.
Passionate about horse racing, Poncha owned and bred racehorses from the early 1960s until the late 1990s. He was a steward of the Royal Western India Turf Club (RWITC) and one of the early mentors of the Amateur Riders Club. "He was a dignified and eloquent gentleman and carried the true Parsi culture and personality that existed in Bombay. I remember him as a man with strong views and upright beliefs. When he spoke from the RWITC dais, he minced no words and, more often than not, got his point through,” noted a condolence message from Zavaray Poonawalla, chairman of the RWITC, adding, "People often ask me to bring back ardent lovers of the sport like your dad and my reply has always been, ‘they are gone, are going, and soon there will be none left.’ Such people are far and few between.”
The eloquent Poncha is survived by his wife Azarmie, sons Dr Fali and Raiomond, and sister Dolly Khambatta.