On a September Thursday in Mumbai, India's insurance regulator released a draft reform paper that reordered the economics of an entire industry overnight, sending commission-dependent brokers and digital platforms into their steepest single-day declines in years. The IRDAI's proposed caps on distribution commissions struck at the business model that had powered the fastest-growing corner of Indian insurance — the independent broker and fintech channel — while leaving state-backed and captive distribution relatively unscathed. It is a familiar tension in regulated markets: the regulator's manda