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Informist, Monday, Dec. 9, 2024

 

--LIC Mohanty: Aim to enrol 100,000 Bima Sakhis in 1 year 
--CONTEXT: LIC Chairperson Mohanty speaks at launch of LIC Bima Sakhi Yojana 
--CONTEXT: Bima Sakhi scheme to train, support women to become LIC agents 
--LIC Mohanty: See spending INR 8.4 bln in 1st yr on Bima Sakhi Yojana 
--LIC Mohanty: See premium income from Bima Sakhi to be 5 times of expense 
--LIC official: Composite licensing to boost industry, have no issue with it 
--LIC Mohanty: Expect to maintain mkt shr irrespective of regulatory changes 

 

PANIPAT - The Life Insurance Corp of India is likely to spend INR 8.40 billion rupees in the first year of the newly launched Bima Sakhi Yojana, Chairman Siddhartha Mohanty said Monday. This spending will be part of the life insurer's business expenditure and the company is hopeful that the premium income from the scheme will be 4-5 times of the expense, he said. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Bima Sakhi Yojana Monday, under which, women aged between 18 to 70 years, with educational qualifications of just class 10, will be enroled by LIC to sell various policies for three years. The stipend for the first year is INR 7,000 per month, for the second year it is INR 6,000 per month and for the third year it is fixed at INR 5,000 per month. 

While the target is to enrol 200,000 women under the scheme over the next three years, Mohanty said the company is confident of enroling 100,000 women in the first year. He also said the company expects these women to sell 24 policies per year, and they will be eligible for commission over and above the stipend.

Prime Minister Modi during his address said that the government is committed to improving financial inclusion and financial literacy for women and this scheme is a progressive step in that direction. He said that it will not only financially empower the women enroled under the scheme but also help get more women insured.

After completion of three years of contractual work, Mohanty said LIC will help train these women. After a basic examination, they will be selected to join the insurer as an agent, he added. Mohanty further said that people enroled under this scheme can sell all policies under LIC, however, they are expected to sell smaller policies. The aim is to penetrate the untapped areas and have at least one enroled candidate in every panchayat area, Mohanty said.

 
In the recent past, there have been few regulatory changes in the offing that will likely impact the insurance ecosystem, including allowing 100% foreign direct investment in the sector. According to Mohanty, the company is confident of maintaining its market share, irrespective of these. The insurer behemoth's market share in Apr-Sept increased to 61.07% from 58.50% in the same period of the previous year and 58.87% for the full year ended Mar. 31.

LIC's net profit for the quarter ended September fell 3.8% on year to INR 76.21 billion. Assets under management of LIC increased 16.8% on year to INR 55.40 trillion as of Sept. 30.

 

Speaking about the Insurance and Regulatory Development Authority of India's suggestions to consider a composite licence for insurance companies to enable them to sell different types of products under one roof, a senior official at LIC said this was a welcome move as it will boost the industry. “We have no issues with it," the official said. A composite licence would allow an insurance company to provide multiple types of products, such as life, general, or health, under one roof.  End

 

Reported by Priyasmita Dutta 

Edited by Deepshikha Bhardwaj

 

 

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