India has a huge untapped population which doesn't have facilities for financial aid and insurance, and it is perhaps plausible to look at the option of having niche players catering to smaller sectors akin to non-banks and microfinance institutions in lending, said Rakesh Joshi, member (Finance & Investment), Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai). Speaking at the Business Standard BFSI Insight Summit, Joshi said, "Today, most of our insurance companies operate at a national level. There is arguably a case for having differentiated operations, which cater to niche sectors the same way we have non-banking financial companies (NBFC) and microfinance institutions in lending." "The capital requirement for niche players may not be as large as those having national ambitions. "Enabling these niche players, which require lower capital, will enhance the penetration in areas which hitherto had not seen traction from large players," he said.
The GST Council on Saturday postponed a decision on cutting tax rate on life and health insurance premiums, officials said. The 55th meeting of the GST Council, chaired by Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman and comprising state counterparts, decided that some more technicalities needed to be ironed out and tasked the GoM for further deliberations.
The wide-ranging sanctions imposed by the US on the Russian oil sector have started to dent near-term oil flows to India with state-owned Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd (BPCL) saying not enough cargoes are available for March.
'Choose an FD tenure that provides a balance between returns and the horizon for which you can invest.'
The government's flagship health insurance programme for the rural poor has drawn increasing appreciation from European and Asian countries.
The interplay between domestic and foreign capital will shape India's equity markets.
Ahead of the Union Budget 2023, insurers are hoping that the Centre will act on their recommendations, which includes increasing the limit for tax deduction under 80D of the Income Tax Act. Also among them are issuance of long-term bonds, tax incentives for home insurance premiums, and a separate section to claim deduction for term-insurance premium, among others. These suggestions would help improve the penetration of insurance in the country.
India, the world's third largest oil consuming and importing nation, spent 112.5 billion euro (about Rs 1.5 lakh crore) on buying crude oil from Russia since the start of the Ukraine war, a European think tank said on Thursday. The Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) released a report on payments to Russia for fossil fuels since February 24, 2022. "According to our estimates, since the beginning of the war, Russia earned EUR 835 billion in revenue from fossil fuel exports," it said.
Applicants for Indian citizenship under the Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019 (CAA) can submit any of nine documents, including valid or expired passport, ID cards and land tenancy records, to prove he or she is a national of Afghanistan or Bangladesh or Pakistan.
Will allowing business correspondents to hawk insurance products help in reviving 5-lakh strong field agents as a viable channel?
The National Commission ruled that the insurance policy is deemed to be automatically transferred to the purchaser when the vehicle is registered in their name.
The South Korean government is inviting applications for fully funded Seoul Tech Scholarships 2025.
Having got the regulatory clearance to offer add-on insurance policies, non-life insurers are now preparing to launch the same in the coming weeks. Some of the insurers have said, however, that they need some time to launch these products. They say that, unlike commercial products which can be launched straight away, products meant for retail consumers need a certain level of preparation before they are ready for sale.
The AAP chief stressed the need for an increase in healthcare spending, suggesting a rise to 10 percent of the GDP, along with the removal of taxes on health insurance premiums.
The manifesto outlines 15 guarantees, with Kejriwal promising "robust" job creation for Delhi residents as his first guarantee.
Presumably hurt on their balance sheets by the allegedly inflated bills for medical costs of people covered by cashless mediclaim facilities, these insurers have pruned the list of hospitals in four large cities for providing this facility with effect from this month.
These are the highlights of the Union Budget 2025-26 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Saturday.
Implementation of BI tools can improve the bottom line by 10-15 per cent of insurance companies.
Review your family emergency fund and replenish it if needed. Revisit financial goals to see if there is any change in timeline or the corpus required.
rediffGURU Rohit Gupta, co-founder and COO of College Vidya, provides a list of competitive exams that can help you land a job in the public sector.
Neo banks, along with mid-sized banks, are establishing global capability centres (GCCs) in India, mirroring the expansion strategies of larger global counterparts. This trend is being seen as the next major wave in the country's banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sector.
Car market leader Maruti has sold a record 1 million policies under 'Maruti Insurance', launched two years ago.
New India Assurance, National Insurance and United India Insurance are following Oriental Insurance Company in raising health insurance premium rates by 50 to over 100 per cent.
National Insurance Company is going to come out with a new health policy for those above 60.
The Centre on Friday announced a special voluntary retirement scheme for employees of four public sector general insurance companies to cut the excess flab.
This will help expand the distribution channels, said Subhash Chandra Khuntia, chairman of the insurance regulatory and development authority of India.
A comprehensive Bill on insurance sector is likely to be introduced in the winter session of Parliament, Union Finance Minister P Chidambaram said on Friday. \n
Atishi, a former Delhi Chief Minister and AAP leader, accused the newly formed BJP government of failing to fulfill Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promise of providing financial assistance to women under the Mahila Samridhi Yojana. She questioned why the scheme, which promised Rs 2,500 to each woman in Delhi, was not passed at the first cabinet meeting.
A heated debate erupted in the Rajya Sabha over the ongoing strike by ASHA workers in Kerala, with Congress and CPI(M) MPs trading accusations over responsibility for addressing their demands for a higher honorarium and post-retirement benefits. Congress MP Jebi Mather alleged that both the Kerala government and the Union government had ignored the workers' pleas, while CPI(M) MP John Brittas countered by claiming Kerala provides the highest honorarium to ASHA workers. The debate also saw demands for an AIIMS in Kerala and a hike in MBBS seats, as well as concerns over maternal health, elderly care, and mental health in India.
After Tuesday's Naxal attack on the Central Reserve Police Forces, police forces across the country are likely to see a sharp jump in their insurance premia when their group personal accident policies are renewed. The hike could be in the region of 200-300 per cent, according to insurance firms.
India, the world's third largest oil consuming and importing nation, bought crude oil worth 49 billion euros from Russia in the third year of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine, a global think tank said. India, which has traditionally sourced its oil from the Middle East, began importing a large volume of oil from Russia soon after the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In 2024, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) approved 20 third-party Unified Payments Interface (UPI) applications, a record since UPI's launch in 2016. This surge reflects growing interest from financial technology (fintech) companies, driven by the integration of credit products like UPI-linked credit cards and pre-approved credit lines.
A trends study conducted by India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) has expressed suspicion that cryptocurrency is being used across the country in serious criminal acts like terrorist financing, fuelling secessionist activities, cybercrime, narcotics trafficking, illegal betting and gambling. The report, which was based on suspicious transaction reports and operational analysis, shared these trends and credible intelligence with law enforcement agencies.
'I have no idea about such a medal. Never got one,' says Surya Shekhar Ganguly, the national chess champion between 2003 and 2008.
The implementation of this toll collection system, which will eventually eradicate toll booths, necessitates the fitting of an on-board unit (OBU) in every vehicle that can track a vehicle's location in real time.
The BJP may win more seats in the February 5 assembly election, but not enough to trump AAP, notes Ramesh Menon.
Mint Road, on December 21, 2023, flagged the role of self-regulatory organisations (SROs) in strengthening the compliance culture in regulated entities (REs) and providing a consultative platform for policymaking. It also decided to issue an omnibus framework for SROs.
The National Commission noted that if the policyholder wanted reinstatement, he should have made a written request and should have also cleared the premium till that date, but no such request had been made.
