To digitise the insurance marketplace to the benefit of

Solution

In a bid to digitise the insurance marketplace to the benefit of policyholders, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has launched Bima Sugam. Bima Sugam is an online marketplace offering a spot to all sellers of insurance on a single platform. The online platform, encompassing both life and non-life insurance, is set to go live on January 1, 2023. Multiple insurance-related processes, including buying and selling of policies, keeping details of the current policy handy (portability facilities), settling claims, and changing insurance agents, will be accessible via Bima Sugam. It allows buyers to purchase life, motor, or health insurance policies directly. These facilities will be available to customers via an electronic insurance account (E-IA). Bima Sugam also envisions web aggregators like PolicyX and PolicyBazaar, banks, brokers, and insurance agents serving as facilitators in peddling insurance policies to customers.It will also reduce the cost of policies falling on the client’s head by reducing the amount one often needs to pay to the intermediaries. The new initiative is also expected to allow for the faster acceptance of new/sandbox products. The forum will thrust for end-to-end digitisation of the insurance-selling ecosystem. It will rely on policyholders giving consent via Aadhaar verification. This will be necessary for clients to be able to access policies. Policyholders who have signed up to be a part of the forum will get their E-Bima or E-insurance accounts. Using these, they will be able to view their policies and file a claim. All the information stored in one place would make claim settlement a more comfortable process for nominees/beneficiaries.Life Insurance Council and General Insurance Council will hold 30% stake for Rs 25 crore fund infusion each, while Online PSUs will get 35% for Rs 30 crore. Brokers Association will have 5% stake for Rs 3 crore infusion. Learn Along: IRDAI Headquarters: Hyderabad Chairperson: Debasish Panda e-Insurance Account' (eIA) is the portfolio of insurance policies of a proposer/policyholder held in an electronic form with an insurance repository. This e-Insurance account facilitate the policyholder by providing access to the insurance portfolio at a click of a button through internet.