Shares of Indian life insurance companies, particularly SBI Life Insurance and Canara HSBC Life Insurance, saw significant declines after the Department of Financial Services (DFS) secretary, M Nagaraju, stated that banks are being asked to avoid exclusive tie-ups with their own insurance subsidiaries and instead remain neutral.
The public-sector lenders were yet to get a formal proposal on sale from HSBC.
The two Indian banks will make available their combined network of 3,600 branches and a customer base of 40 million.
Currently investment in saving instruments, like risk cover, pension products, PF contributions, National Savings Certificates and others, are eligible for aggregate deduction of Rs 100,000.
Insurance companies are seeking a separate deduction limit of Rs 1 lakh for insurance premium payment under Section 80C of the Income Tax Act in the upcoming Union Budget to bring in more people under the ambit of insurance. The insurers also want reduction in the goods and services tax (GST) rate of 18 per cent currently applied on health insurance products to 5 per cent to make such products more affordable to common people. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will present the Union Budget for 2022-23 on February 1.
About one-fourth of the Indian population is without pension coverage and only 13 per cent of the country's paid employees are under formal pension arrangement, a survey has found.
The regulator has put a cap on the business a bank can get from a single insurer.
United Progressive Alliance-led government proposed lenders as insurance brokers; new FM not too keen, say insurers.
'For the first time ever it has come below 1 per cent, at 0.97 per cent.'
Under the Goods and Services Tax, effective midnight of June 30, most of the financial services would attract a higher tax of 18 per cent as against 15 per cent as of now.
If the nominations are not in place, the heirs need to go through a lengthy process to get access to the money cautions Bindisha Sarang.
