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IRDAI Revives Plan For One-Stop Insurance Portal; Launch In Three Months — BQ Exclusive

The portal will be up and running by Aug. 1

<div class="paragraphs"><p>Source: Unsplash</p></div>
Source: Unsplash

India's insurance regulator has revived its plan for Bima Sugam, a 'one-stop insurance portal', according to two people in the know of the matter.

It was decided at a closed-door meeting on Thursday that the portal will be up and running by Aug. 1, according to the first person quoted above. Both spoke on the condition of anonymity as the information in not public yet.

The move is in line with the regulator's plans for digital transformation and easing entry for newer players by creating a level-playing field to sell and service insurance policies online.

Debasish Panda, chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, had said in October 2022 that Bima Sugam will be a one-stop shop for sales, service, and claims. He had called it a potential "gamechanger".

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Discussions at the meeting held on Thursday included the formation of committees to execute various tasks related to the portal, the appointment of a consultant for the formation of an independent legal unit, entity, or company to house Bima Sugam, the people quoted earlier said. Discussions were also held around products and structures on the portal, and the hiring and appointment of a board of directors for the company and other personnel, they said.

Bima Sugam Key Highlights

  • All general and life insurance policies will be listed on the platform.

  • Addresses the need for tech-based insurance distribution.

  • Individuals would be able to buy life, motor, or health insurance policies.

  • They would be able to raise service requests and claim requests through the portal.

  • Technology and the availability of data are expected to bring down the cost of intermediation.

  • It is expected to bolster the sale of insurance to address the huge protection gap in India and help individuals be covered for their life and assets.

  • It would also help insurers follow up on industry data, such as the persistency ratio of policies.

Insurance Demat Update

In September 2023, the regulator proposed guidelines for dematerialisation of all insurance policies to a separate electronic insurance account, which would be mandatory and unique to each policyholder.

The proposition is on the back burner and being weighed with regards to risk-reward since Digilocker currently provides this facility of allowing customers to store their records in one place, the second of the two persons mentioned above said.

There is, therefore, no update on the mandatory electronic insurance account so far, and the regulator may consider integrating the Bima Sugam portal with the existing Digilocker infrastructure.