The department of financial services(DFS) has asked the General Insurance Council, the official representative body of general insurers, and Life Insurance Council, the official representative life insurers, to collect data from their members about their exposures to the accident victims by Monday

New Delhi/ Hyderabad:

The government on Saturday asked the insurers to immediately report about their exposures in terms of coverages and claim payments towards the victims of the Friday’s tragic triple train accidents in Odisha.

The accident involving two passenger trains and a stationary goods train has led to the loss of life of at least 288 people so far and left over 1,100 injured.

The crash involving the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, which were carrying around 2,500 passengers, and a goods train occurred around 7 p.m. on Friday near the Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore. At least 288 people were killed and over 1,100 were injured in the accident.

Survivors of the crash said their train was crowded with hundreds of migrant laborers, students and daily wage workers who were packed shoulder to shoulder in at least three general compartments – with most of them standing – when the trains collided.

The accident site is about 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar.

The department of financial services(DFS) has asked the General Insurance Council, the official representative body of general insurers, and Life Insurance Council, the official representative life insurers, to collect data from their members about their exposures to the accident  victims by Monday.

The railways on Sunday said that even ticketless travellers on board the passenger trains involved in the Odisha accident will receive compensation. This is in line with a Supreme Court order, officials said.

“Irrespective of the passengers being ticketless (or not), they will receive compensation,” railway spokesperson Amitabh Sharma said.

According to the ministry sources , insurers are responsible for three kind of insurance coverages.

The general insurers  as part of government financial inclusion programme and provide some basic cover under  the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY) through the banks.

The coverage under the scheme is Rs.2 lakh for accidental death and full disability and Rs. 1 lakh for partial disability. The premium of Rs. 20 per annum is to be deducted from the account holder’s bank account through ‘auto-debit’ facility in one installment.

Similarly, the life insurers also through banks provide cover under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana( PMJJY). 

In this, the policy holder gets life cover of Rs. 2 Lakh in case of death due to any reason against a premium of Rs 436/- per annum. Enrolments under the scheme are be done by banks or at the post office in case of post office savings bank account.

Besides, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation(IRCTC) provides optional personal accident cover to the passengers of Indian Railways at a minimal cost- 35 paisa since FY 2021-22 while  buying tickets online.

IRCTC floats a bidding  process and selects couple of general insurers every year for providing this cover and in Fy20 22 had covered over 16 crore passengers who had paid Rs 6.56 crore of premium.

One of the insurers for IRCTC’s  passengers, SBI General Insurance has said it is dealing with any claims expeditiously  and all assistance are being  provided to their needy policy holders.

Liberty General Insurance, IRCTC’s second insurer has also given phone number and e-mail id for reporting any claims.

Roopam Asthana,CEO and Whole Time Director, Liberty General Insurance, said,`We emain fully committed to provide quick claims settlement in the face of this tragic event. Our helpline number <+91-9324968286> is a quick point of contact for our policyholders, where a trained team of executives will senstively guide them with their claim-related issues.”

Insurers suggest cover provided through IRCTC online ticket platforms should be made compulsory as the premium is very minimal- 35 paisa.

The policy provides a coverage of Rs 10 lakh in case of death, Rs 10 lakh for permanent disability, Rs 7,50,000 for partial disability, Rs 2 lakh for hospitalisation expenses for injury.

Almost 90 per cent of tickets of Indian Railsways are booked through IRCTC online platform.

Life Insurance Corporation(LIC) is one of the largest insurer in PMJJY category.

The corporation on Saturday announced many concessions for settling the claims of the victims of the train accident in Odisha .   

Siddhartha Mohanty, chairperson, LIC, announced many concessions to mitigate the hardships of the claimants of LIC policies and also of Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana.

In lieu of registered death certificates, list of casualties published by Railway Authorities, Police or any State or Central Government Authorities will be accepted as proof of death, he said.

LIC committed to supporting those affected and will expedite claim settlements to provide financial relief, he added.