Page 7 - Insurance Times March 2024

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ECGC told to keep moratorium on insurance rates opment Authority of India (IRDAI) has
granted In-principle approval to
for exporters Policybazaar Insurance Brokers Private

The government recently said it has directed the ECGC to maintain a mora- Limited (Policybazaar), a wholly owned
torium on insurance rates for Indian exporters in the wake of the Red Sea subsidiary of the company for
crisis. State-owned ECGC is an export promotion organisation, seeking to upgradation of license from direct in-
improve the competitiveness of Indian exports by providing them with credit surance broker (Life and General) to
insurance covers. composite insurance broker," PB
Fintech said in a stock exchange filing
Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Anupriya Patel said that the
ECGC continues to provide insurance coverage to exporters. evening.
"This will allow us to deepen the insur-
She said that the corporation has not refused cover for export shipments
routed through the Red Sea and the credit risk cover is being provided based ance penetration in the country by
on the risk assessment and creditworthiness of overseas buyers and terms bringing more technology, process con-
of payment. trol and data analytics based innova-
tion into re-insurance capacity."
"The government has directed Export Credit Guarantee Corporation Ltd.
PB Fintech had last month reported its
to maintain a moratorium on rates of insurance for the Indian exporters,"
Patel said in a written reply to the Lok Sabha. first-ever net profit of Rs. 37.2 crore for
the quarter ended December 31,
She said that some increase in the freight cost has been reported by the 2023. For the nine months ended De-
industry. cember 31, 2023, PB Fintech reported

Replying to a separate question, Patel said that the fruits destined for a net profit of Rs. 4.2 crore.
export to the US are irradiated in Indian irradiation facilities. PB Fintech's revenue from operations
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has approved four grew 43 per cent to Rs. 871 crore in
Indian Irradiation facilities for irradiation treatment. the third quarter ended December 31,
2023.
Policybazaar gets IRDAI from a direct insurance broker (Life
and General) to a composite insurance More insurers may roll-
nod to upgrade to a com- broker.
posite insurance broker This approval is expected to pave the back cover, hike premium

PB Fintech said that insurance regula- way for Policybazaar to sell reinsur- if Red Sea attacks persist
tor IRDAI has granted in-principle ap- ance products besides being a pure Amid ongoing disruptions in the Red
proval to its wholly owned subsidiary play platform focused on insurance Sea region, some Indian general insur-
Policybazaar Insurance Brokers buying. ers have cancelled their policy covers
(Policybazaar) to upgrade its license "The Insurance Regulatory and Devel- whereas others have hiked premiums

The Insurance Times March 2024 7