News: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) chairman recently reiterated that the IRDAI’s ambitious project, Bima Sugam, will transform the insurance sector.
About Bima Sugam
1. It is an online insurance marketplace (similar to an e-commerce platform) for purchasing, selling, servicing insurance policies, and settling claims.
2. It will be a plug-and-play application (API).
3. It will bring together all companies offering life and non-life insurance products in one place.
4. It will be a single platform connected to government databases, insurers, intermediaries, and insurance repositories to access customer details, provide product information, and manage insurance policies.
5. Bima Sugam aims to eliminate paperwork by offering policies in electronic format.
6. Customers can view all their life, health, and non-life insurance policies in one place.
7. Customers won’t need to provide an ID, as it will be auto-filled using Aadhaar through Bima Sugam’s connection with India Stack.
Note– India Stack is the collective name of a set of commonly used digital public infrastructure (DPIs) in India.
About Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI)
1. It is a statutory body established by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority Act, 1999 (IRDAI Act 1999) to oversee and promote the growth of the insurance sector in India.
2. Headquarter– Hyderabad
3. It is responsible for registering and licensing insurance and reinsurance companies, as well as intermediaries, in accordance with regulations.
4. It also sets the criteria, qualifications, and capital requirements for obtaining insurance licenses.
5. Composition: It is a 10-member body- a chairman, five full-time members, and four part-time members appointed by the Government of India.
6. IRDAI’s “Vision Insurance for All” initiative aims to provide universal coverage by 2047, assigning states and union territories to insurers to enhance penetration.
| Insurance Sector in India 1. IRDAI data shows that India’s insurance penetration was 4.2% of the GDP in 2021-22 which is far behind the global average of 7% of the GDP 2. Currently, India is the 10th-largest insurance market in the world. 3. As per Swiss Re’s report, India is projected to become the sixth-largest insurance market in 2032, surpassing Italy, Canada, South Korea, and Germany. |
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