(L to R) Neerja Kapur, CMD, New India Assurance, Debasish Panda, chairman, IRDAI, Vivek Joshi,secretary, Department of Financial Services at NIA’s 105th foundation day celebration in Mumbai on Friday

“`The government is very supportive of the amendments and changes being proposed by the insurance regulator. The IRDAI has done some exemplary works in recent times  to bring about changes in the industry. All these new initiatives like expenses of management (EOM), Sandbox regulations  and others will help the industry to grow and improve penetration. We have many more suggestions by the IRDAI that can  be implemented in due course,’’ said Vivek Joshi, secretary, Department of Financial Services

The newly set up bodies like state level insurance committees are excellent platforms to push insurance growth . The proposed plans to set up Bima Sugam and launch of Bima Vahak and Bima Vistaar will be game changers for the industry across the country. It will make insurance affordable and achieve financial inclusion with growth and innovation, spelt out Debasish Panda, chairman,IRDAI

Mumbai:

The government has patted the Indian insurance regulator IRDAI for all the new moves it had implemented in recent times to bring about changes in the industry.

“The government is very supportive of the amendments and changes being proposed by the insurance regulator. The IRDAI has done some exemplary works  in recent times  to bring about changes in the industry. All these new initiatives like expenses of management (EOM), Sandbox regulations  and others will help the industry to grow and improve penetration. We have many more suggestions by the IRDAI that can  be implemented in due course,” said Vivek Joshi, secretary, Department of Financial Services.

Joshi along with Debasish Panda, chairman, IRDAI, were in the city on Friday to attend 105^th foundation day celebration of state owned New India Assurance(NIA), the country’s largest multinational general insurer.

The government has  a strong focus on the country’s financial inclusion agenda and insurance plays an important role in this entire spectrum. Schemes like Pradhan  Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY)  and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) and IRDAI have contributed enormously  to  the financial inclusion space to achieve the government’s goal, said Joshi .

The country’s general insurance industry penetration and density are still very low and as India is heading towards  becoming  the third largest global economy, the industry has to grow proportionately to provide necessary supports, he exhorted.  

Today, Pradhan Mantri Jan-Dhan Yojana  (PMJDY) has over 50 crore new banking accounts. It is now so easy to open a bank account which was not the case earlier, he said.

According to Joshi, the banking industry has made a robust turn around by recording a net profit of over Rs 1 trillion in FY23 after years of bad performance and hoped that the PSU general insurers will follow suit their banking counterparts to achieve that kind of profitability in the future.

NIA has its own place and has been a torch bearer of the Indian insurance industry, observed Joshi.

“While, the rest of the three PSU general insurers don’t  have requisite solvency, NIA’s solvency has gone up in the last year. NIA, during the Covid period, had provided cover to government’s scheme of insuring the 5.5 lakh health workers and had settled over Rs 6000 crore of Covid pandemic claims. The insurer will further grow in the future,’’ he added.

As the economy is changing its course for achieving a  higher growth, there will many challenges and insurers like NIA should prepare for all these new challenges and risks, he suggested.

Addressing  the event, Panda said the insurance industry has an important role to play as the fabric of the nation’s economy is changing where customers are being empowered and going digital is the only mantra.

Indian insurance industry has a strong foundation in the country as insurance and growth go together. The Indian insurance industry will be the sixth largest market in the world by 2032 and the contribution of the Indian insurance industry to the GDP has to significantly grow, he outlined.

“The Insurance industry has to follow principles of `Availability, Affordability,  Accessibility’ and IRDAI has taken a number of initiatives bring about a paradigm shifts  in the existing rules and regulations for  ushering in a progressive industry on the basis of  ease of doing business to achieve higher growth. Insurers have to invest in technology  to make the products and services more accessible to customers ,’’ exhorted  Panda .

The newly set up bodies like state level insurance committees are excellent platforms to push insurance growth . The proposed plans to set up Bima Sugam and launch of Bima Vahak and Bima Vistaar will be game changers for the industry across the country. It will make insurance affordable and achieve financial inclusion with growth and innovation, spelt out Panda.

Neerja Kapur, CMD, NIA , said  the  company, having its presence in 25 countries,  is going strong and prepared for all the emerging risks and challenges.

` Today, we are a profitable company and our fundamentals are strong enough to withstand new shocks and challenges. We are encouraged by the new reforms measures by the government and the IRDAI and are ready for making a larger contributions to the Indian economy,’’  she averred.