Page 29 - Insurance Times May 2020

What are the proactive steps to be taken by the 2 million Y All Health Insurers have to cover the Corona Virus
insurance agents in the country? Pandemic claims including hospital treatments under
the Ayushman Bharat, although this was not envisaged
In what way, the Government of India can intervene in this at the inception of this Scheme.
matter to help the common public?
Financial Help from the Industry
Let us look at these situations in this article.
Although financial donations are pouring in from each nook
and corner of the country including from the Celebrities
The Role of the Government of India towards the PM CARES FUND mainly for the Corona victims,
This subject has been taken up first because Insurance is only I am restricting the list to the Industries donation in general
one of the many numerous steps to be taken up by the and the Insurance Industry in particular-
Government to come to the rescue of the suffering public, 1. TATA Sons- Rs 1500 crores.
especially the poor and the downtrodden. 2. ITC- Rs 150 crores.
Y The Government has announced to provide an Health
Insurance of Rs 50 lacs per head for all Doctors, Nurses, 3. HUL- Rs 100 crores.
Health care workers, safai karmacharis, ward boys, 4. Vedanta- Rs 100 crores.
ASHA Workers, para medics, technicians and Specialists 5. Hero Cycles- Rs 100 crores.
and all the traffic Police personnel for a period of 3
6. Bajaj Finance- Rs 100 crores.
months till June 2020, to be continued if required.
Health care workers alone are 22 lac people in India. 7. Sun Pharma- Rs 25 crores.
Y All the above categories of persons are also covered by 8. OLA Group- Rs 20 crores.
a Personal Accident Cover of Rs 50 lacs for this period. 9. Paytm Rs 5 crores.

Y There are 50 lac trucks in India but only 4 lac trucks ply 10. Individuals Mr Mukesh Ambani- Rs 500 crores.
daily. These 4 lac drivers and cleaners will be extended
11. Mr Gautam Adani- Rs 500 crores.
this Health Insurance of Rs 50 lacs per head for 3 months
as a short term insurance cover by the Government and
the Life Insurance Corporation of India- LIC- and the The number is long but the list has been limited, although
our grateful thanks are due to each and every individual and
modalities are being worked out. 19 deaths that took
place among these truck drivers and cleaners have entity.
created a panic among this section of population and
hence this reassuring gesture from the Government. LIC has given USD 13.8 million for Prime Minister's Citizen
Assistance and Relief in emergency situation Fund set up for
Y The Income Tax Department has announced that this Pandemic. This includes INR 50 Million from the LIC
insurance premiums paid up to June 30, 2020 would be Golden Jubilee Fund.
taken as paid on or before March 31 2020 and the
eligible IT Rebates would be given for the FY 2019-2020 GIC Re has given USD 3.02 Million to the Relief Fund.
in the Income Tax Assessments of people.
Initiatives from the IRDAI
The Regulator gave a mandate to the Insurance Companies
to extend the grace period by one more month for
the renewal premiums pertaining to the Life Insurance
and General Insurance policies falling due between March
25 to April 14 2020, thereby giving the policyholders
some breathing time. This also includes Health Insurance
Premiums and Third Party Automobile Insurance
premiums.

IRDAI has mandated that all the Corona Virus claims to be
dealt with promptness and alertness in view of the tragedy
by all insurance companies.

The Insurance Times, May 2020 29