Page 39 - Life Insurance Today February 2018

Life policies sale falls in Government planning social security scheme with pen-
2016-2017 sion and insurance cover

The total number of life insurance The central government is working on the blueprint for a social security scheme
policie s that is specifically aimed as a safety net for workers in
sold in In- the informal labour sector. The draft social security code,
dia fell in drafted by the Ministry of Labour & Employment, aims
2016-17 as for universal coverage that includes those who are out-
compared side the ambit of the EPFO and the ESIC. The scheme
to the previous year but the total envisages mandatory pension, insurance against disabil-
coverage increased 14% in value. ity and death, and maternity coverage, alongside optional
medical and unemployment coverage.
The total number of policies sold Consultations are on with states to bring them on board for part-financing the
during the year fell to 264.56 lakh
scheme, which could be launched later this year around the time of key state
from 267.38 lakh a year ago while elections and ahead of the upcoming 2019 general polls.
the total cover increased to Rs.
"At the present moment, in both EPFO and ESIC, the employer contributes and
4,18,476.62 crore from Rs.
3,66,943.23 crore, according to the equal amount is contributed by the employee also. If you are covering the en-
tire population, there will be one segment which will not be able to contrib-
latest annual report issued by the
Insurance Regulatory and Develop- ute at all. Now, for the segment below the poverty line, the government plans
to foot the entire bill, in which case it has to be shared between the states
ment Authority.
and the Centre. So we need to bring the states on board," a senior labour
A total of 264.65 lakh new life insur- ministry official said.
ance policies were issued during the
year, with the Life Insu-rance Corpo- Canara HSBC Life starts video service for real-time cus-
ration accounting for 201.32 lakh tomer engagement
policies. The state-run corporation's
Canara HSBC Oriental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Co Ltd has started a video
share fell 2.02 per- centage points
over the previous year to 76.1%. service that seeks to improve customer engagement. "This
is part of our engagement strategy where we are using digi-
Private sector life insurers issued tal. Digital is the future in this country. A big portion of our
63.24 lakh or 23.9% of total new engagement strategy will be driven through digital,"
policies issued, with their share in- Shalabh Saxena, Chief Operating Officer, Canara HSBC Ori-
creasing 2.13 percentage points ental Bank of Commerce Life Insurance Co, told.
over the previous year. "The contri- This video service initiative comes close on the heels of the
bution of protection was abysmally company tapping into social-media sites - Facebook, Twit-
low in the last decade," said Birla ter and Linkedin - for customer services. Under the video service, a customer
Sun Life Insurance managing direc- can go to the website of the company and click on the video service icon to di-
tor Pankaj Razdan. rectly engage with the company for various service requests, said Saxena.

"Despite strong growth in premium, "This will be like Facetime and WhatsApp video. A lot of customers prefer look-
the protection gap has remained ing at the face of a company representative than interact only via voice. This
very high. With focus, scale and bet- will be real-time video engagement," he said. The life insurer feels that digital
ter life expectancy assumptions ow- initiatives will enhance efficiency, besides helping the company better under-
ing to impro- ving healthcare, mor- stand the "pulse of the customers".
tality charges are down 30-50%." Video services can be accessed by a customer through a smartphone, camera-
enabled laptop or a desktop with camera, said Saxena, adding that customer
While LIC reported 12.78% growth
in their premium income, private engagement in the coming days would drive revenues and retention and even
lead to repeat purchases. "Customer service in the coming days is going to be
sector life insurers posted a 17.40%
recognised as a revenue line. Now most companies see it as a cost. This has to
growth.
change in the current digital era," he said.
Life Insurance Today February 2018 39

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