`Debasish Panda, chiarman, IRDAI

The industry has now 56 primary players and 12 foreign reinsurers

“We would like to have many more players including micro insurers, insurtechs, niche and differentiated players who can operate with a much smaller capital and geographical areas to cater to needs of unserved , underserved and low –income group. I don’t believe in one size fits all policy,’’ he said adding that IRDA is considering to allow insurance companies to invest in insurtech companies

Bengaluru:

The Indian insurance industry, which has not seen entry of any new players in recent times, will soon be joined by eight new companies.

The insurance regulator IRDAI has cleared their first stage approvals in its recent board meeting.

“We have approved the entry of eight new players and will clear their final approvals in another two board meetings. There are no more pending applications for new licenses with us,’’ said Debasish Panda, chairman, IRDAI on Monday.

However, he did not provide any other details of these new players.

Panda was addressing an InsurTech Conference, hosted by the IRDAI, themed “InsurTech – Catalyst that Inspires” in the city.

The industry has now 56 primary players and 12 foreign reinsurers, he said.

“We would like to have many more players including micro insurers, insurtechs, niche and differentiated players who can operate with a much smaller capital and geographical areas to cater to needs of unserved , underserved and low –income group. I don’t believe in one size fits all policy,’’ he said adding that IRDA is considering to allow insurance companies to invest in insurtech companies.

With  new eco-system that IRDAI  is putting in place, which Panda  described as a “revolutionary phase,’  the industry, which has almost reached Rs 10 trillion of premium income by the end of Fy2020-21, should be in a position to double it in the next five years .

“ Insurance sector is now at the inflection point after 22 years of liberalisation. We would like to see the doubling of premium in every five years and by 2047 as India celebrates its centenary year of independence, it should be a fully insured country where every family and small business are adequately protected in terms of life, health and other basic covers.”

The insurance industry has an asset base of Rs 50 trillion at the end of Fy 2021-22.

“The mass insurance schemes like Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana(PMSBY)  and Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana(PMJJBY) have helped insurance penetration to grow and we would like to plan more such schemes going ahead. We also want 70 per cent of India insurance premium should be generated from tier II and III cities by 2030,’’ he said.

The country has received Rs 28,000 crore foreign direct investment(FDI) in the insurance sector so far.

IRDAI is committed to see the industry growing at much faster pace and all the new processes including amendments in the Insurance Act to be completed in next few months,he assured.

“We are talking to the government to facilitate amendments in the Insurance Act. We are also now planning to set up a technology led  innovation hub in the IRDAI. As a regulator, we will hand-hold and provide all regulatory supports, based on principle based regulatory regime, to the players, who want to serve the industry. We will facilitate their exchange programmes with various departments of the government. I am already discussing new plans with Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM) which will be invited in the next insurance CEOs meet,’’ he said.

Panda stated technology can be used as extended arms to serve the needs of the low-income population, vulnerable sections, calamity-prone regions, MSMEs, Millennial population  

“There is a need to leverage the data points from the various sources to enhance the underwriting process, improve claims experience for customers, able to design embedded insurance products, or value-added services,” he said adding that data, analytics and automation are way to go for the Indian insurance industry.

“In South Africa, 95 per cent of claims are settled through tech and paperless mode whereas in India it is 0.1 per cent,” he said.

`On the technological front, IRDAI has already initiated steps like revamping the Regulatory Sandbox to make it vibrant on a continuous basis rather than keep the window opened for a limited time.

“We will allow life products to be experimented for more than a year as it it takes time in life insurance while in non-life we considering to provide time frame of more than 6 months,” he said.

IRDAI will be soon reconstituting existing Regulatory Sandbox committee with relevant new professionals.