Not able to sync an Exchange Account (Hotmail id) on Android phone since few days

[PremalMe]

I am using an Android 9 phone (Nokia 8) updated as on date. Have always used Hotmail id (added as an Exchange account on Android via the built-in Gmail App) as my Contact & Calendar data source. This was working fine all this while.

The sync of emails/contacts/calendar with my Hotmail id stopped few days back. Kept getting a system message "Update your Exchange account". On clicking, get a "Reviewing security policy ..." message. It tried to check something at the end of which I get an error message "Can't add account. Gmail's security settings are more secure than those set by your IT admin. Contact your IT admin for help." with two options "Remove account" and "Close". I clicked on "Close" few times and kept trying. I re-started my phone few times, but the issue persisted.

Then, for a change, I clicked on "Remove account". After this, all my contacts and calendar items have been removed from my phone. Then I added my Hotmail id again as an Exchange Account. But still the same issue ... it does not sync, giving the same system error message. I tried adding the Exchange account with manual settings. This does not go through at all.

I am not having any contacts on my phone now and there is no resolution to the issue.

Can anyone help?

Regards
Premal