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.
Irdai on Friday extended the 'use and file' procedure for the most of the life insurance products, thereby allowing insurers to launch new products without prior approval of the regulator. This comes days after Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) extending similar relaxations to health insurance products as well as general insurance covers. In a press release, Irdai said that in its continuous endeavour towards the reform agenda taken up towards having a fully insured India, it has extended the 'use and file' procedure for most of the life insurance products.
'With a very stable technology with limited functionalities, a large network has spanned out.'
'We have opened 100 branches in the last one and a half years. Our manpower is also in place.'
'As our per capita income increases and various demographic segments emerge, the need for various kinds of protection and risk covers will become even more explicit.'
General insurance companies are likely to see a surge in demand for health insurance in the coming months due to falling air quality in the country. The health insurance segment has registered a strong growth after the pandemic due to higher awareness. In the first half of financial year 2023-24, the segment grew by 24.4 per cent to Rs 54,713.52 crore from Rs 43,981.54 crore in H1FY23, driving growth of the non-life insurance industry.
Personal data like mobile numbers, PAN, addresses and pre-existing medical conditions of about 3.1 crore customers of Star Health Insurance is allegedly available on a website created by a hacker identified as xenZen. The hacker claimed that Star Health's Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) sold all the data and later tried to change the terms of their deal.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) has fined 10 insurance companies, including both the insurance arms of the Bajaj Auto Group, Reliance General, United India, Iffco-Tokio, New India Assurance and Shriram Life for non-compliance with various guidelines. The violations varied from opening branch offices without seeking the regulator's permission to violation of advertisement guidelines and non-fulfilment of social sector obligations.
'Today, we have 2 million active drivers earning through our platform every month.'
Concerned over rising incidence of mis-selling, the finance ministry has directed heads of public sector banks to put in place strong mechanisms to avoid unethical practices for selling insurance policies to customers. The Department of Financial Services has received complaints that fraudulent and unethical practices are adopted by banks and life insurance companies for procuring policies from the bank customers, a letter addressed to chairpersons and managing directors of public sector banks said. There have been instances where life insurance policies were sold to customers aged above 75 years in Tier II-III cities.
If you have questions related to online insurance frauds, then Piyush Ranjan, chief technology officer, Coverfox Insurance, will answer your queries.
The removal of tariffs would result in health insurance becoming the second-largest business for general insurance companies over the next three years.The health insurance premium which stood at Rs 675 crore in 2001-2002 has risen to Rs 3,200 crore by March 31, 2007.
'The committee has been constituted. Different government departments and FSDC members are part of it.'
The Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India (IRDA) and non-life insurance companies are working towards setting up a pool for creating a capacity within India to underwrite risks from natural catastrophes.
The four public sector general insurance companies -- New India Assurance, United India Insurance, Oriental Insurance, and National Insurance Company -- have lost 800 basis points (bps) in market share in last five years to their private counterparts, the data from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irdai) revealed. In 2018-19, the four had a cumulative market share of 40.04 per cent, with New India Assurance having a market share of 14 per cent and United India Insurance with a market share of 9.63 per cent. But, gradually in the past five years, these state-backed firms have lost their market share to private sector players, due to the declining health of their business.
Numbers could be classified further into (140) marketing and (160 or 161) for service calls to easily identify the purpose of the call in the future.
Mauritius-based IndusInd International Holdings and other Hinduja group entities are expected to make payments worth Rs 9,661 crore for the acquisition of bankrupt Reliance Capital (RCap) only after getting all the legal and regulatory clearances, including from the Supreme Court, thus delaying the closure of the transaction. A source close to the development said that according to the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) order dated February 27, the payment for the acquisition was to be made within 90 days from the NCLT's approval of the resolution plan and after receiving all legal and regulatory clearances.
Customers frequently sign without reading the terms and conditions, resulting in a poor understanding of coverage, and eventually leading to partial payouts
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
In its master circular on general insurance products, which takes immediate effect, Irdai specified, 'The customer may be required to submit only those documents directly related to claim settlement.'
Several life insurance companies in the country are preparing to take on the markets regulator Securities and Exchange Board of India over unit-linked insurance plans.
The United States Agency for International Development will provide a $10 million technical aid for development of Indian insurance sector over the next four years.\n\n\n\n
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Insurance funds will soon start flowing to special economic zone projects, agro-processing and infrastructure projects, domestic satellite services and social infrastructure like educational institutions and hospitals.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Will allowing business correspondents to hawk insurance products help in reviving 5-lakh strong field agents as a viable channel?
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.
Securities Exchange Board of India chairman C B Bhave, and Insurance Regulatory Authority of India chief J Harinarayan had separate meetings with finance secretary Ashok Chawla on Monday over the ongoing tussle between the two regulators over equity-linked insurance schemes.
LIC and GIC employees will go on strike on Tuesday to lodge their emphatic protest against the 'ill-advised' two Bills the Government of India introduced in Parliament on Monday. The office bearers of Insurance Employees' associations said the increase in FDI limit under external pressure results in increased access to private foreign capital over domestic savings, thereby weakening the public sector LIC of India.
'I am very happy to see that the work is starting to bear some fruit now.'
'Splitting must result in tangible benefits for the customer, otherwise it will only mean more work for them in maintaining the policy and for their nominees.'
India's insurance industry is set for a makeover as it seeks to survive and grow in a changed environment that dawned on September 1. With a three-month spat over who will regulate unit-linked insurance plans (Ulips) settled, the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (Irda) in July announced sweeping changes to the way insurance companies do business.
Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Chairman T S Vijayan also said the regulator is mulling to bring out norms for sub-brokers of insurance products.
Implementation of BI tools can improve the bottom line by 10-15 per cent of insurance companies.
Being a member of the World Trade Organisation and General Agreement on Trade in Services, India will have to lift restrictions on foreign capital in insurance.
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