Page 53 - Insurance Times February 2024

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Truckers can report hit-&-run cases the hit-and-run cases, also specifies that one doesn't have
to inform the police from the crash site and so the drivers
online can inform police by calling the helpline number or inform-
The road transport ministry has suggested a framework of ing a police station as per their convenience. They said the
online reporting of accidents by drivers soon after the inci- main intention is to ensure that the victims get quick medi-
dent to avoid applicability of "hit-and-run" provisions of the cal care.
Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS) and save them from poten-
tial mob fury. The home ministry will have the final say, a Unfair practices top plaints against pri-
top transport ministry official said.
vate life insurers
Drivers fleeing from sites and not informing police are li-
More than half of total complaints against private life in-
able for up to seven year jail and fine as per the BNS. surers are related to Unfair Business Practices (UFBP), ac-
Though the law has not been enforced yet, truck, bus and cording to the Insurance Regulatory and Development
taxi drivers have protested against the provision causing Authority of India (IRDAI).
disruptions in the supply chain. The Centre has assured Out of a total of 1,27,378 grievances registered in the last
trucker and transporters organisation to consult them be- financial year, 26,107 pertained to UFBP. Out of this, 45,884
fore enforcing this provision. were in the private sector and 54 per cent of complaints
Responding to a question on the steps that the government are on UFBP, as per the latest data. In the case of public
can take to address the fears of heavy and commercial sector insurers, the complaints on UFBP are very low (2978
vehicle drivers, Union road transport secretary Anurag Jain out of 81,494) accounting for only 3.65 per cent.
said any driver fleeing from the spot after causing an acci- The overall grievances in the life insurance industry, how-
dent that leaves people injured or dead is a serious issue.
ever, have come down to 1,27,378 in FY23 as against
"Some concerns of truckers are also genuine; like if they 1,54,826 in the previous year. Spurious calls as reported in
stop there their vehicle may be set on fire and they may the name of officials of IRDAI/IGMS, various government
have to face mob fury. agencies and other financial institutions is a matter of con-
So, we can use technology to find some solution to this. We cern for the insurance industry, the regulator said.
are working on them. One of the solutions we have sug- IRDAI has issued several public notices, press releases, ad-
gested is that the parties can report about the accident on vertisements in leading TV Channels, newspapers and di-
their online platform and it will not be treated as a hit-and- rections to insurance companies to caution public against
run case. The driver can inform about the incident at a spurious calls etc at various touch points and in the media
police station 25-50 km away from the site," he said. Mas- as well. IRDAI has also cautioned the public not to transact
sive protest erupts across India against Central government with spurious callers in any manner.
new hit-and-run law
"Insurers have been advised to take up the issue of mis-
Jain said since there is also a fear that drivers can be held selling seriously by doing a root cause analysis to identify
for hit-and-run before they have been able to report the the major causes. Some of them are: ascertain suitability
case at a police station, there can be a provision for them
of product, place controls on various channels based on the
to call on a helpline number. He added that the final call vulnerability of the channel and have a strategy on dealing
on this issue has to be taken by the home ministry.
with complaints of mis-selling," IRDAI said in its latest an-
Officials said the section 106 (2) of BNS, which deals with nual report.

48 February 2024 The Insurance Times