Going by the earlier plans, Bima Sugam, built with a budget of Rs 200 crore,will be a centralised marketplace and a one-stop-shop for all insurance-related queries, including policy purchase, claim settlement, insurance advice and grievance redressal

New Delhi/Hyderabad:

Finally, $122 billion Indian insurance industry, steered by the regulator Irdai, has got cracking on its game changing move Bima Sugam by appointing a project consultant –Ernst & Young(E&Y).

In the final round of scrutiny, a steering committee consisting of many CEOs of insurance companies, had selected E&Y that had outbid AT Kerney to bag this prestigious mega tech project, which will be a centralised marketplace and a one-stop-shop for all insurance-related queries, including policy purchase, claim settlement, insurance advice and grievance redressal. 

Initially, five consultants had bid for  the project, which was conceived in June 2022, soon after Debasish Panda took over as the chairman of the Irdai in March 2022, to push insurance penetration on a three-pronged approach – availability, accessibility and affordability – to ensure ‘Insurance for All by 2047’.

“We are working with the councils of both life and general insurance to have a UPI-like moment for the insurance sector. A conceptual framework has been contemplated,” Panda had earlier said, adding this was being proposed through the Bima trinity – Bima Sugam, Bima Vistar and the woman-centric Bima Vahak.

Bima Sugam will be a game changer and help insurance industry in achieving many objectives, he had said.

The platform will support all personal and commercial/business insurance requirements and support in identifying and comparing optimal products to meet user requirements within stipulated timelines.

This digital platform would also enable the intermediaries including agents to provide services to policyholders with no additional cost/investment for the agents/distribution partners.

Bima Sugam will enable individuals to buy a life, health, motor or property etc. insurance policy online. It will translate to easy access under a single roof for insurance companies, agents, brokers, banks and even aggregators.  

According to the sources in the industry, E&Y, which will be paid around Rs 10 crore as fees, has been mandated to complete the project  in one year.

It has to also rope in an IT vendor to put up the high tech platform.

Going by the earlier elaborate plans, Bima Sugam, built with a budget of Rs 200 crore, would involve the entire gamut of the insurance industry including, insurers and intermediaries.

The equity structure for the platform will be in the ratio of 47.5 :47.5:5 ratio, where life insurance and general insurance companies will own a 47.5 per cent stake each while brokers’s body Insurance Brokers’ Association of India (IBAI), agent body will own 2.5 per cent each.

While the insurers are now ready with their investments to join the platform, it will take some time for the onboarding of IBAI and agents.  

Bima Sugam will be managed by a newly set up company, which will be in place soon with the technical support of Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas (CAM) who has already been appointed as the legal counsel for the project.

Responsibilities of CAM will include incorporation of Section 8 not-for-profit company which will  be the company owning the Bima Sugam platform.

Headhunting agency Executive Access has been hired by the insurers to appoint a CEO for the new company.

The regulator had formed a steering committee, consisting of many CEOs of insurance companies, to act as the apex decision making body for creation of Bima Sugam platform.

E&Y will be responsible for end-to-end ideation, design and development of the Bima Sugam platform. The platform will have an easy-to-use interface for the online users to easily access the information on the portal and help them in making a decision towards purchase of policy and also help them in servicing of the policy purchased from the platform.

The consultant will also identify and appoint other experts as required during the course of the project (Technology specialists, payment service providers, etc.).

The entire spectrum of insurance offerings through the platform will include. life insurance and all its variants – Term plans, Savings (Par and Non-Par), Annuity and Pension plans,. ULIP Products, Health Insurance and all its variants, Vehicle Insurance (TP and OD), Travel Insurance,  Personal Accident insurance, Property Insurance, Commercial Insurance, Marine Insurance, Agricultural insurance and any other insurance product planned to be listed on the platform as decided by the two councils.

The platform will have to demonstrate end to end digital on-boarding journey for all insurance products without any manual interventions, including Customer acquisition and lead management, Customer onboarding, Application management,. Documentation, Risk management, Underwriting process, Policy issuance, Customer service management, Analytics and MIS and User Interface

It is envisaged that the platform would universalise and democratise the insurance sector and enable other players to provide value by integrating such as integration with banks / NPCI, etc.

Through Bima Sugam, IRDAI will have better industry insights on various aspects such as number of lives covered etc. which would help regulator in policy making and supervision.