The online insurance market does not even account for 1% of the gross
premium amount of Rs.4.63 lakh accumulated by the insurance industry in
the Financial Year 2016. But the government’s decision to incentivise
online policy purchase from the public sector companies comes as a major
boost for the future of this sector.
This decision comes amid a plethora of other announcements made by the Central government to push the country towards a cashless economy. The government-owned insurance companies would now offer a discount or credit of up to 10% of the premium amount in case of general insurance and 8% in case of new life insurance policies sold through customer portals, if the premium is paid via digital means.
According to IRDAI, purchase of online health insurance contributed to 2% of the total premium collected in health insurance sector in the Financial Year 2016. In the life insurance sector, online sales provided 0.52% of all the new premium collected.
Although government sector insurers like LIC lead the insurance sector, they lag behind their private peers when it comes to online sales. According to Alok Bhatnagar, the co-founder of EasyPolicy, currently the market share of public-sector firms for purely online purchase of policies is not more than 15%.
3rd January 2017
This decision comes amid a plethora of other announcements made by the Central government to push the country towards a cashless economy. The government-owned insurance companies would now offer a discount or credit of up to 10% of the premium amount in case of general insurance and 8% in case of new life insurance policies sold through customer portals, if the premium is paid via digital means.
According to IRDAI, purchase of online health insurance contributed to 2% of the total premium collected in health insurance sector in the Financial Year 2016. In the life insurance sector, online sales provided 0.52% of all the new premium collected.
Although government sector insurers like LIC lead the insurance sector, they lag behind their private peers when it comes to online sales. According to Alok Bhatnagar, the co-founder of EasyPolicy, currently the market share of public-sector firms for purely online purchase of policies is not more than 15%.
3rd January 2017
