'It must become faceless, just as the entire direct tax assessment system has already become fully online, without any human intervention in the normal course,' recommends A K Bhattacharya.
'India has not faced a major terrorism loss since the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008.'
The move by the insurance regulatory body aims to create a more inclusive healthcare ecosystem in India and to encourage insurance provider companies to diversify their product offerings.
The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has asked life insurance companies not to advertise unit-linked plans as investment products in a recent circular.
The Centre has increased the premium rates for its flagship insurance schemes, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), for the first time in seven years due to "long-standing adverse claims experience", and to make them economically viable. The premium for PMJJBY would increase from Rs 330 to Rs 436 a year effective June 1, and the PMSBY premium would rise from Rs 12 to Rs 20, the Ministry of Finance said in a statement. PMJJBY provides life insurance cover worth Rs 2 lakh to all account holders aged 18-50 years.
The Supreme Court has ruled that a car driver who applies sudden brakes on a highway without warning can be held negligent in the event of a road accident.
Insurance experts said since it may be difficult to set a tariff or fixed rates for Covid-19 treatment, an indicative rate chart has been proposed.
In 2023-2024, 95 scheduled commercial banks received over 10 million complaints from their customers. The process of KYC at many banks has become 'HYC' -- harass your customer, points out Tamal Bandyopadhyay.
The insurance regulator's move to prod insurance companies to sell health products to all age groups, including those above 65, is aimed at increasing penetration though there would be challenges on pricing due to higher risk perception, experts said. While there was no regulatory cap on age for health insurance policies, most companies had an internal policy which did not allow them to sell health insurance products to persons over 65.
'We want to play the value game for our consumers, which is health and retail will grow faster for us than the group.'
Any defect identified by the expert would have to be rectified within one month, failing which compensation of 5,000 per day would be payable.
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.
Ask rediffGURU and PF expert Milind Vadjikar your insurance, stocks, mutual fund and personal finance-related questions.
'The scale and depth of talent here plays a central role in core software product engineering for some of the biggest brands in tech.'
After the second wave of the pandemic, general and health insurers have seen a fall in their outgo of Covid-related health claims. In the July-September quarter (Q2 of FY22), insurers settled a little over Rs 5,000 crore worth of Covid health claims. This is 35 per cent lower than the Rs 7,700 crore worth of claims they settled in Q1, sources said.
A prudent guideline for self-employed individuals is to target at least 10 to 15 times their actual annual income when determining life insurance coverage.
ICICI Lombard is utilising the latest technology and forensic methods to verify insurance claims.
Master the online ITR filing process and then learn the differences between the old and new tax regimes to pick your best option.
The Supreme Court of India has reprimanded the central government for failing to implement a cashless treatment scheme for road accident victims. The court expressed its concern over the delay in formulating the scheme, which is designed to provide immediate medical care to accident victims within the crucial "golden hour." The court highlighted that despite a statutory provision requiring the scheme's implementation, the government has not taken any action, prompting the court to intervene. The court also criticized the General Insurance Council (GIC) for raising objections to the scheme and delaying its implementation. The court has now directed the government to notify the scheme within a week and has scheduled a hearing on the matter for May 13.
'It is good for us if the JMM contests. That will divide the Opposition and give us the upper hand.'
Errors in filing income-tax returns frequently lead to scrutiny notices, additional liabilities, or delayed refunds.
As of March 25, life insurers have paid Rs 1,986 crore towards 25,500 Covid death claims
Health insurance coverage should be hiked periodically to keep pace with medical inflation, or increase in healthcare costs.
'Last year (FY21), we had about 1 million intimated claims for Covid.' 'This year (FY22), in six months, we got about 1.6 million claims.'
'If you want it to grow well and serve the true needs of the economy, it needs a lot of freedom and flexibility, which comes in terms of the reform objective set by the regulator.'
Keep revising the sum insured at the time of renewal to keep it in line with inflation.
'If Washington has to balance Chinese power, she will have to turn to the third biggest power in the world which is India.' 'The United States and India will have to work together in order to keep Chinese ambitions in check.'
Buying term insurance is not a one-size-fits-all purchase. It requires some level of deliberation to ensure that the policy aligns with your needs, life stage as well as future circumstances, says Casparus Kromhout, MD & CEO Shriram Life Insurance Company
Sanjib Jha, CEO, Coverfox Insurance Broking answers your health insurance related queries.
Many high-profile IPOs in India since 2021 have destroyed investor wealth due to overvaluation, weak business models, and post-listing disinterest, turning 1 lakh investments into as little as 3,500.
'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.'
Although insurers feel loss ratios in the health segment may get impacted, and profitability will take a hit, capital erosion will not take place, at least for the large entities.
According to the data compiled by General Insurance Council, which is not publicly available, the insurers have settled 508,334 claims amounting to over Rs 4,800 crore.
Think again. Not filing could cost you. Here's who must file, who should, and why it matters. What's more, the deadline to file your ITR has been extended till September 15, 2025
Organise your PAN, Form 16, Form 26AS, AIS, and all other proofs before e-filing.
Consider a combination of a base policy and a super top-up policy.
'I can feel the master's pain, because he must be sitting there and cursing and saying, 'Why was I born?''
With mobile data getting cheaper, insurers are introducing technologies that eases buying and lodging claims.
Putting together all the required documents and surmounting legal hurdles could be a challenge for the nominee.
Messaging app Telegram has taken decisive action against bots that were reported for sharing sensitive data related to Star Health and Allied Insurance Company, and is actively keeping an eye on their re-emergence, a company statement said. "The bots reported to Telegram for sharing Star Health data were immediately removed and moderators are monitoring to prevent them from being recreated. "The sharing of private information on Telegram is expressly forbidden and such content is deleted whenever it is found," the statement said.
