Page 62 - MARKETING & PUBLIC RELATIONS EBOOK IC88

quality, quantity, potency, purity, standard and price of goods so as to protect him from unfair
practices and (c) sets up for a at district, state and national levels to hear grievances of
consumers and to provide due redress, relatively faster than ordinary trial courts.

(e) The Insurance Industry

1. For the insurance industry, the Government had framed Rules under the Insurance Act, 1938,
whereby Ombudsmen can be appointed to receive complaints from policyholders relating to the
settlement of claims, of the value of Rs. 20 lakhs or less. This scheme came into effect from
11.11.1998. The Ombudsmen can took into cases where the insurer had partially or It began
totally repudiated a claim or where there is a dispute on the premium accidents, payable or the
construction of the policy. Even delays may be looked into. The insurer has to implement the
recommendation of the Ombudsman for the within 15 days, if the complainant accepts the
same.

2. Even before the Consumers Protection Act had been enacted in 1986, the consumer movement
had been strong in India. There were many NGOs who volunteered to look after the interest of
consumers. Some of them specialized in insurance matters. As a result, the L.I.C. of India had set
up committees to review on its own, every repudiated claim. At the highest level in the Central
Office, the review panel was headed by a retired judge of the High Court.

3. The IRDA has, by regulation, laid down a code of conduct for insurance agents. The purpose of
this code is to ensure that rights of the consumers are respected by the agents. The code
specifies that the agent must
 give to the prospect requisite information about the proposals offered for sate
 take into account the needs of the prospect while recommending an insurance plan
 indicate the premium to be charged for the proposed plan
 inform prospects promptly about the progress of the proposal
 render necessary assistance to the policyholders or claimants in complying with the
requirements for settlement of claims
 advise policyholders to make nominations

4. The code also states that no agent shall

 induce a prospect to omit material information or submit wrong information in the proposal
form
 interfere with a proposal submitted through another agent
 demand or receive a share of the proceeds under a policy
 force a policyholder to terminate an existing policy and to effect a new proposal instead

(b) Marketing and Consumerism

1. Marketing and consumerism complement each other. Both focus on the consumer as the main
concern of business, whose satisfactions should be the primary objective of all business. A
company pursuing marketing principles in its strategy and policies, will automatically conduct
itself in ways that do not harm the consumer.

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