Though COVID-19 will wreak more damage to the finances of the Indian population, the insurance sector is unlikely to get hurt.
A fresh US executive order (EO) which seeks to bring down prices of prescription drugs in the country by up to 90 per cent -- on par with other developed nations -- will affect innovator companies, while sparing the Indian generic drug makers in the short term. US President Donald Trump signed the EO on Monday, directing the US Trade Representative and the Secretary of Commerce to act against foreign countries that "purposefully and unfairly undercut market prices", driving price hikes in the US.
The rise in premiums could be in the range of 5-25 per cent, depending on the features that each insurance company adds on its products. Insurance firms have been given time till September 30 to include modifications mandated by the regulator.
'If you are investing in a Ulip for returns, go for a type I Ulip.' 'If you are investing for insurance cover as well, type II is better.'
The Reserve Bank said overseas investors, including FPIs and NRIs, can invest up to 26 per cent in insurance and allied activities through the automatic route.
Market-linked products have been driving the growth of private insurers for some time now. But, the market volatility has forced the companies to re-think their strategies, reports Subrata Panda.
Vehicles are depreciating assets and lose their value over time.
'Online aggregators offer discounts of 70% to 75%.' 'At a car dealership, the discount is usually in the range of 30% to 35%.'
While there has been a rise in obesity reduction surgeries, it may still take time before health insurance cover is made available for these.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
The draft digital personal data protection (DPDP) rules, which require banks to obtain explicit consent from their customers before using their data for purposes beyond the original intent, although is being followed in spirit, leaves no room for regulatory arbitrage, experts said. They said that the potential business impact is difficult to assess at this stage, but the formalisation of these rules will mean banks now need to establish clear data processing agreements with third-party entities to ensure compliance.
Private insurance firms say, over the past few years, they have been investing on digital technologies to reach semi urban and rural areas.
Irdai had introduced two Covid specific products in the market - Corona Kavach and Corona Rakshak - that saw huge acceptance among the consumers as these products had lower premiums.
After the Delhi high court's ruling, blanket exclusion of genetic disorders from coverage is likely to become a thing of the past.
'In life insurance, it is about creating distribution capacity and solutions for customers. We are constantly working on that.'
The Ola Money and Uber tie-ups demonstrate how insurance companies, including even government-run ones, are forging partnerships with every possible service company to offer products.
Last year, FDI cap in insurance was hiked to 49%
Errors in filing income-tax returns frequently lead to scrutiny notices, additional liabilities, or delayed refunds.
'Currently, our individual first premium would be in the Rs 3,000-Rs 3,200 crore range. We want to take that to about Rs 6,000 crore in three years.'
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
The new draft guidelines issued by IRDAI proposes a minimum sum assured of Rs 50,000 and a maximum of Rs 5 lakh. A General Insurance Council official said the guidelines were still being worked on and would only be finalised next week.
Here's all you want to know about insuring your priced possession!
The US Trade Representative noted that India's average applied tariff rate stood at 17% per cent, the highest of any major world economy.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
India has received nearly Rs 30,000 crore worth of FDI in the private sector insurance firms since 2015, when the government had increased FDI limit from 26 per cent to 49 per cent. Investment under the automatic route does not require prior approval from the government.
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.
With at least three IPOs in the offing this year, stock market investors have a lot to look forward to.
Advait Rao Palepu reports how a recent Supreme Court order will impact motor vehicles insurance policies.
Currently, the Department of Agriculture runs two crop insurance schemes, one of which is weather-based.
Insurance sector to get lot of foreign investment: Jaitley.
Irdai will maintain a centralised list of the details of all agents appointed by insurers.
'Today, we have 2 million active drivers earning through our platform every month.'
Ashish Mehrotra, MD and CEO, Max Bupa Health Insurance, explains the changes we can expect in health insurance this year.
Compared to a third party insurance buying comprehensive insurance makes more sense, says Neeraj Gupta
Venture capital (VC) and private equity (PE) funds had, in 2024, taken bets on traditional businesses rather than tech-first domains like consumer tech, software as a service (SaaS) and software. According to data from Bain & Co, Pitchbook, Venture Intelligence, VCC Edge and AVCJ, prominent VC funds like PeakXV saw their share in this traditional space go up sharply from 14 per cent in 2023 to 23 per cent in 2024.
However, the number of renewals has grown by only 0.4 per cent, which means only high value and ticket size renewals are coming.
There are a number of steps taken that will leave more money in the hands of the taxpayers.
These include the reduction in tax rates under the new tax regime, increase in standard deduction, allowing tax collected at source to be adjusted against tax deducted at source from salaries, notes Harsh Roongta.
General, life insurers with 8 & 10 yrs in biz, respectively, may have to list
Agents often influence customers into buying new products every year instead of continuing with their existing policies
Insurance of vehicle, including cars and bikes, will become costlier from April 1 as insurance regulator Irdai has decided to increase premiums by up to 40 per cent from the next fiscal.
