Page 8 - Life Insurance Today March 2018

It has also a mechanism to capture complaints received in companies and gives appropriate directions for the
physical as well as email form or voice calls received by protection of interest of policyholder.
IRDA Grievance Call centre (IGCC). The IGCC also provides
details of the redressal systems of insurance companies IRDA exercises no appellate jurisdiction over such disputes,
whenever policyholders require them. Further, the IGCC it only guides the aggrieved customers to approach proper
also educates policyholders about the Insurance channel for redressal of their grievance. IRDA is
Ombudsman who provides a channel for fair disposal of responsible for healthy development of Insurance business
complaints falling within the jurisdiction laid down. where the customers get their due share. Sadly, there are
areas where the customer is in the receiving end.
IRDA Grievance Call Centre:
Thus IGMS provides a standard platform to all insurers to Scope for Improvement:
resolve policyholder grievances and provides IRDAI with a IRDAI came out with many initiatives including the
tool to monitor the effectiveness of the grievance redress integrated grievance management system (IGMS) to help
system of insurers. There is an alternative channel for you with consumer redressal. It facilitates online registration
to register your complaint about your insurance policy or of policyholders' complaints and track the status of their
find out its status. Policyholder can call the IRDA Grievance complaints. It gives insurance regulator a tool to monitor
Call Centre. Tall free numbers are provided to register the the effectiveness of the grievance redressal system of
grievance on all working days. insurers.

A policyholder can make optimum use of this system by IRDA can have real-time monitoring and tracking details
giving accurate information about the complaint like the of all grievances lodged with all insurers, along with their
policy number, name of the insurer, complainant's contact disposal status. It gives mirroring of the complaints
details etc. It is useful to keep the policy document ready database of the insurers through the IRDA portal. However,
while registering the complaint online. You can also customer grievance redressal has not drastically improved
approach IGMS directly by logging into igms.irda.gov.in even after introduction of new system. There is a need for
and registering your complaint or calling the toll free proactive action against insurers and for IRDA to stop being
number to register your complaint into the insurer's just a facilitator.
system.
IRDA should institute senior citizen-centric nodal officers
Policyholder can also email to complaints@irda.gov.in. But at the director-level, and also at insurance companies, to
IRDAI encourages policyholders to approach the insurer specifically address all elder-related issues. Part of the
first. Apart from the complaints registered in the IGMS
Portal of IRDAI, Complaints registered in DARPG Portal
against insurers are also referred to IRDAI. IRDAI regularly
accesses the portal of the DARPG and ensures that
complaints relating to the insurance sector are
downloaded and necessary action to get them examined
by the insurers is taken.

No Appellate Jurisdiction:

The entire process have specified turnaround times as
mandated by the regulator and hence customers get a
response with the stipulated time frame. IGMS help
address the needs of thousands of dissatisfied or aggrieved
customers, while at the same time ensure that insurance
companies provide an appropriate solution. IRDA only
monitors the grievance redressal process of the insurance

“In the end, it isn’t about changing the world, but rather, how many worlds you have changed.”

8 March 2018 Life Insurance Today