The Centre on Friday announced a special voluntary retirement scheme for employees of four public sector general insurance companies to cut the excess flab.
'The incentives to switch to the new tax regime... are viewed as a negative due to potential loss of customers who buy policies for saving tax.' 'The tax-saving value proposition for the sector reduces.'
State-backed Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) recorded strong growth in the value of new business (VNB) margin in the third quarter of financial year 2023-24 (Q3FY24) while major listed private life insurers reported a weak performance. VNB refers to the profit that an insurer is likely to garner from new business, which comes from policies sold in a particular period. VNB margin is the profit margin of the insurer.
High-value insurance policies experienced muted growth in the first six months of the current financial year after the Centre decided to tax such products in this year's Budget. Simultaneously, there has been a marked improvement in the growth of policies with premiums of 'less than Rs 5 lakh', mainly originating from smaller cities. During this year's Budget, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman proposed that insurance policies (excluding unit linked insurance plans or ULIPs) with an aggregate premium exceeding Rs 5 lakh, and the maturity amount, would not be exempt from tax.
Russian shipments averaged 1.67 million barrels per day in January compared to 1.48 million bpd in December and 1.53 million bpd a year earlier.
At present, the rules do not allow the government to shed stake in the four public sector general insurance companies - New India Assurance, United India Insurance, National Insurance and Oriental Insurance.
While the four general insurers will have equal stake in the TPA, Life Insurance Corporation and General Insurance Corporation might hold a less stake.
Sources close to the development said the three companies have sought permission from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority for new motor insurance products and are expected to launch the add-on covers in the first week of January. Add-ons are expected to be in the form of a replacement vehicle or payment on a daily basis when the vehicle is out for repair, and reduced or zero depreciation.
The Travancore Devaswom Board has insured the Sabarimala Ayyappa shrine for a value of Rs 30 crore (Rs 300 million) and also introduced a free-of-cost accident insurance project for pilgrims visiting the holy place.
'It is folly to think that religious-identity-based politics and a flourishing economy can co-exist in a diverse society.' 'We can fight and kill each other, or fight together and kill poverty. We cannot do both,' says Dasarathi G V.
There are challenges galore before him, and it is not going to be easy. In the next four years, he has to conjure a system that changes the optics about him and the BJP both nationally and internationally so that he can ride back on his own, claim the top slot, and not have to lean on a coalition, asserts Ramesh Menon as Modi 3.0 completes a year in power.
'We have opened 100 branches in the last one and a half years. Our manpower is also in place.'
Buy from an established agent rather than a novice who may not be around when you need his assistance.
In a move that impacts long-term subscribers of medical insurance policies, leading insurers like Oriental Insurance Company and United India Insurance have stopped no-claim bonus for existing and new policy holders.
The most striking features of this Budget was its focus on simplification and improving the ease of doing business in India, asserts Kaku Nakhate.
Oil and Natural Gas Corporation has received Rs 864 crore (Rs 8.64 billion) in final settlement of an insurance claim for the oil facility at Mumbai High that was gutted in a fire in July 2005.
Motor insurance is expected to generate largest claims for the companies whereas for crop insurance, the Agriculture Insurance Company is expecting claims of about Rs 15-16 crore
In response to the panic triggered by Trump's trade policies, the RBI net sold approximately $43 billion in the second half of FY25 to curb volatility, as the rupee plunged to a low of 87.95 per dollar in February this year.
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.
Market downturns or regulatory shifts can reduce liquidity, making it harder to buy or sell assets when needed.
Private life insurers experienced reasonable growth in the July-September quarter (second quarter, or Q2) of 2023-24 (FY24), and the October data is also encouraging. The individual weighted received premium (WRP) for private players grew by 19.8 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) in October. However, Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India had slower growth, pulling the industry growth rate down to 13 per cent Y-o-Y.
Buoyancy in the equity market and the soft interest rate regime have prompted insurers like the LIC to focus on unit-linked products that provide life cover as well as tax benefits and capital appreciation to investors.
Even as concerns grow over the residential real estate market reaching its peak, the outlook for office real estate remains strong, with listed real estate investment trusts (Reits) standing to benefit from sustained demand in the segment.
Since no insurance companies share data on their claims with each other, the finance ministry and Irdai suspect that a lot of the resultant claims are duplicates.
The states will be asked to tap the Centre's JAM trinity.
India's export of fuels like diesel to the European Union jumped 58 per cent in the first three quarters of 2024, with a bulk of them likely coming from refining discounted Russian oil, according to a monthly tracker report. The EU/G7 countries in December 2022 introduced a price cap and an embargo on the imports of Russian crude oil in a bid to cripple Kremlin's revenue and create a vacuum in its funding for the invasion of Ukraine.
Insurance companies are anticipating claims of at least Rs 500 crore from the incessant rains and flooding in Chennai.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
Tesla needs to either sell the same models with reduced features to lower the cost for Indian market, or incur losses.
The eighth Budget of Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman continued to focus on 'GYAN' (Garib, Youth, Annadata, Nari) to maintain a consistent and coherent strategy initiated over the years in pursuing the government's vision for Viksit Bharat. The approach, characterised by incremental yet impactful steps, aims to create a compounding effect over time.
Export-led Indian IT sector is not directly hit by Trump's tariff order on goods, but there could be worrisome indirect bearings on it arising out of possible slowdown in decision-making and GDP growth in America over higher tariffs, which may then cloud demand from specific verticals, according to some analysts.
In a major judgement to help innocent road accident victims, the Supreme Court has ruled that an insurance company was liable to pay compensation to the victims even if the driver of the vehicle, which met with an accident, had a fake driving licence
Stopping SIPs during a downturn undermines the benefit of rupee-cost averaging.
Ministry of Finance, Joint Secretary -- insurance, Anoop Wadhwa, had reviewed the progress of development of micro-insurance products at a meeting in the national Capital on Tuesday.
Many life insurance companies are yet to see a sharp spike in the sale of high-value policies as was widely expected in the aftermath of the government's decision to tax income from insurance policies having an aggregate premium above Rs 5 lakh in a year.
rediffGURU Vipul Bhavsar answers readers' personal income tax queries.
These are the highlights of the Union Budget 2025-26 presented by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in Parliament on Saturday.
Low margins and cash crunch have resulted in job cuts and a decline in the insurance industry. A policy roadblock is making it worse.
