Reliance Life's premium income falls 24% in Apr-Feb

The company recorded the steepest fall among major life insurance companies

Reliance Life Insurance Company has reported over 24% decline in its premium income during April-February, the steepest fall among the major life insurers.

The life insurance industry as a whole comprising of 23 private sector companies and public sector LIC too saw a dip in premium income by over 6% during April-February, data released by the IRDA showed.

The premium income of Reliance Life Insurance during the 11-month period in 2012-13 dipped to Rs 1,143.57 crore from Rs 1,509 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.

Among the seven large private sector insurance companies with premium income of over Rs 1,000 crore, SBI Life and ICICI Prudential saw its premium income drop by 12.18% and 2.04%, respectively, during the period.

Some of the major players including HDFC Standard Life and Bajaj Allianz, however, bucked the industry trend registering a growth of 12.40% and 15% respectively.

During the April-February period, SBI Life collected a premium of Rs 4,022.50, followed by ICICI Prudential (Rs 3,983.66 crore), HDFC Standard (Rs 3,432.05 crore) and Bajaj Allianz (Rs 2,362.19 crore), the data showed.
     
India's largest life insurer LIC reported a drop of 6.35% in its premium collection at Rs 60,705.46 crore during the period as against Rs 64,820.48 crore in the year- ago period.
     
Private insurers together netted Rs 23,796.29 crore in the 11 months as against Rs 25,195.35 crore in the corresponding period of 2011-12, showing a decline of 5.5%.

     
Total premium collected during April-February by the industry stood at Rs 84,501.75 crore, down 6.12% over the corresponding period previous year.
     
Another private sector player, Max Life, saw a meagre 0.84% drop in premium income at Rs 1,587.84 crore, while Birla Sunlife's collection dropped 9.01% to Rs 1,368.35 crore during the period.
     
Life insurance companies collect premium under four segments -- individual single, individual non-single, group single and group non-single.