Page 47 - Insurance Times May 2023

to ensure Insurance for all by 2047,
that is a hundred years since our
Independence in 1947. This will
further help to increase the
penetration and reach out to the
masses.
Mr. P.N. Karmakar former DGM,
United India Insurance spoke on
factors influencing growth including
pure risks in Eastern India and
supplemented with statistics of
current penetration and future
target.
Mr. Sayan Bhattacharya, Chief Manager - Regional Claim
workers viz doctors, bank staff, postal dept. Staff, govt.
(Property) Head Eastern & Southern Zone, ICICI Lombard
Servants etc. It is their assurances and their "word of
GIC Ltd said that we all are well aware of the fact that the
mouth" that will eventually generate the desired trust to
penetration of General Insurance in our country is
make the vision of market penetration a sustainable success.
significantly low compared to Life Insurance. One of many
Mr. Phalguni Purkayastha, eminent surveyor in his address
factors behind the low penetration is the trust deficit of the
in first session said that the common man doing business
customers. Customer satisfaction is a major pillar to build
under inflationary economy cannot re-invest again to re-
such trust among the target customers.
start venture if there is destruction due to unforeseenperils.
He added that we need to focus on the key factors which
While incidence of Acts of God i.e. catastrophic losses are
play the major role in customer service like Issuance of
likely to be increased in near future due to global warming
adequate products and coverage and Simplifying claim
and other reasons, the fund generation to pay claims can
procedure.
only increase if customer base and premium income from
General Insurance is increased. Mr. Joydeep Roy, ED, Safe Risk Broker, Kolkata spoke about
Mr. Anabil Bhattacharya former chief manager, National the current penetration levels in India as well as global
Insurance, said that in India the insurance sector has taken perspective.
longer period to embrace digital trans formation than any Mr. Arvind Kumar Khetan MD, Salasar Broker, Kolkata
other sectors. This is mainly for chosen preference for stressed the need of tailor made products and quick response
personal relationships when dealing with insurance time from Insurance Companies.
placements and the complexity of the insurance purchase
Mr. Gaur Gopal Ghosh, President, GIAWOI in his address
processes, particularly when it comes to pension, ULIP and
made few observations:
annuity products (in the life sector) with high-end values or
1. The cost of procuring a micro insurance proposal vis-à-
Project & Liability insurance coverage (in non-life sector) for
vis the agency commission is not practical at all. IRDAI
their discreet specific underwriting requirements. Fueled by
has to find other ways to increase penetration in rural
FinTech investments and Insurtech startups, Indian
and semi urban areas.
insurance now become a hothouse of digital innovation.
Newly invented digital tools and capabilities will help insurers 2. Potential is big but matching it to ground realities is a
to streamline new product developments, digital totally different ball game. It requires huge investment
experiences and the transformation of key functions - from to reach the rural areas through Information technology
positioning, marketing, distribution, underwriting, enabled services, who will take the risk?
investigations and claims to finance and accounting which
3. In the absence of incentives for agents, there is no
will result in increasing the penetration.
motivation for increasing penetration. Various benefits
Ms. Nandita Banerjee, former manager, National Insurance, like festival advances/medical benefits, etc. need to be
said that the Insurance Regulator has taken the initiative well thought of.

42 May 2023 The Insurance Times