Page 10 - Insurance Times September 2020

IRDAI

News

IRDAI may soon allow in- Policybazaar.com, an online insurance sure that the interactions are real-
aggregator. time. In case of offline verification of
surers to use video KYC for
The regulator has suggested certain Aadhaar, insurers shall ensure that the
verification rules for undertaking video KYC, which generation of XML file or QR code is
The Insurance Regulatory and Devel- insurers are expected to follow. The au- not older than three days from the
opment Authority of India (Irdai) may thorized person of the insurer perform- date of VBIP.
soon allow insurers to leverage various ing the VBIP for KYC shall record video Also, accounts on-boarded via VBIP
electronic platforms to ensure ease of as well as capture a live photograph of shall be operational only after being
doing business. the customer present for identification subject to audit, underwriting and veri-
In a circular sent to all general, health and obtain the identification informa- fication to ensure the integrity of the
and life insurance companies last tion. Insurers can use offline verification process.
month, the regulator said that compa- through Aadhaar for identification, if it "To ensure security, robustness and
nies can use video-based identification is submitted by the customer. If not, in- end-to-end encryption, the insurers
process (VBIP) as an electronic medium surers may perform OTP-based Aadhaar shall carry out software and security
e-KYC authentication if the customer
to enhance ease of completing the audit and validation of the VBIP appli-
voluntarily submits the same, subject to
know your customer (KYC) process. cation before rolling it out," said the
Mint has reviewed a copy of the draft a notification by the government under regulator in its circular. Insurers will
guidelines, which are open for the Section 11A of the Prevention of Money have to trigger the audio-video inter-
stakeholders' feedback. Laundering Act. action from their own domain and not
The insurers shall develop their appli- Insurers also have to ensure that the from third-party service providers.
cation and undertake live VBIP carried video is clear and the customer is eas- Earlier, in case of online purchase,
out by an authorized person appointed ily recognizable. Further, the OTP-based authentication was done
by the insurer for the establishment, customer's live location shall be cap- and in case of physical purchases, wet
tured through geo-tagging to ensure signatures were required. "Video KYC
continuation and verification of ac-
count-based relationship with the pro- he or she is physically present in India. will make offline processes redundant.
spective customer. "This is very similar Insurers will also have to ensure that Instead of getting physical signatures,
to the onboarding process being fol- the photograph of the customer in the the customer can fill the application
lowed by banks. Something on the Aadhaar card matches with the person form and complete the video KYC. With
same lines is already prevalent and in- undertaking the VBIP and the identifi- covid-19 and social distancing becom-
surers call it pre-issuance verification cation details in Aadhaar match with ing the new normal, video KYC will
help both insurers and policyholders,"
call (PIVC). Irdai is now looking at giv- the details furnished. Companies will
said Agarwal.
ing video-based verification a formal also have to make sure that the se-
nod," said Santosh Agarwal, chief busi- quence of questions asked during the The move is in line with the digitization
ness officer, life insurance, video KYC process is varied to make push that has come amid the pan-

The Insurance Times, September 2020 9