Page 49 - Insurance Times April 2020

pay Rs. 1 crore to the mother of a youth who died while Insurance Co vs Priya Paul pointed out that the insurer had
sightseeing in a glider in Canada. The youth was in a two- not excluded gliders from liability, while it had specifically
seater glider over British Columbia when it hit a Cessna excluded hang-gliding, ballooning, parachuting, and other
aircraft, killing him and the pilot. The insurer rejected the adventure sports. The youth had ‘chartered’ the glider,
claim arguing that a glider is not a standard aircraft carry- according to the court. The term charter is not defined in
ing passengers and, therefore, it was not covered under the either Indian or Canadian regulations. If the meaning is
policy. It further argued that he was on a round trip with ambiguous, the interpretation should benefit the insured,
no destination and therefore, he was not a ‘passenger’. The the judgment said. It further stated that a person taking a
National Consumer Commission and the court rejected round trip with no destination would still be a passenger,
these contentions and ruled that a glider is an aircraft ac- as one in a sightseeing bus which returns to the starting
cording to the Aircraft Act. The judgment in AXA General point.

Integrated Grievance Management System

IRDAI launched the Integrated Grievance Management System (IGMS) in the year 2010. Apart from creating a central repository
of industry-wide insurance grievance data, IGMS is a grievance redress monitoring tool for IRDAI. Policyholders who have
grievances should register their complaints with the Grievance Redress Channel of the Insurance Company first. If policyhold-
ers are not able to access the insurance company directly for any reason, IGMS provides a gateway to register complaints with
insurance companies.
Complaints shall be registered with insurance companies first and only if need be, be escalated them to IRDAI (Consumer
Affairs Department). IGMS is a comprehensive solution which not only has the ability to provide a centralised and online access
to the policyholder but complete access and control to IRDAI for monitoring market conduct issues of which policyholder
grievances are the main indicators. IGMS has the ability to classify different complaint types based on pre-defined rules. The
system has the ability to assign, store and track unique complaint IDs. It also sends intimations to various stakeholders as
required, within the workflow. The system has defined target Turnaround Times (TATs) and measures the actual TATs on all
complaints. IGMS sets up alerts for pending tasks nearing the laid down Turnaround Time. The system automatically triggers
activities at the appropriate time through rule based workflows.

A complaint registered through IGMS will flow to the insurer's system as well as the IRDAI repository. Updating of status will be
mirrored in the IRDAI system. Thus IGMS provides a standard platform to all insurers to resolve policyholder grievances and
provides IRDAI with a tool to monitor the effectiveness of the grievance redress system of insurers.

Felicitation on 40th Anniversary of Insurance Times

A sonnet by K. L. Naik / Vivek Naik
Indian Insurance Journalism’s History began on the 1st January 1981
North East South West – NEWS of Insurance Times cover All in One….1

Shri Ram Gopal Agarwala became the Forerunner with his Power of Will
Utmost true to facts – A Realist – An Idealist with a Missionary Zeal….2

Report of a scientist with Intuition of an Artist –N- Insightful Reviews
All past-current and future trends are revealed in the news….3

Notwithstanding the ups and downs – Troubles and Trials, He remains stead fast
Contacts convictions and comprehension coverage crowned this task….4

Extraordinary Zeal with skill in all his Deals at times
Truth outshines in Editorials –Expert’s Articles and information of Insurance Times….5

Indeed this Silver Jubilee year of 2005 leading to Golden Era years
Magnificent and meaningful roles are played Dr. Rakesh - Shyam! Cheers!....6

Expansion with enlightenment beyond India in Afro-Asian Markets as a whole
“Synergy Re’ wish Agarwala Scions All the Glorious Growth Enriching Goals….7
The Insurance Times, April 2020 49