E-insurance mandatory for Rs 10,000 or above annual premium in life insurance: Irdai

New norms from October 1; sales to be made using e-proposal form similar to physical form approved by regulator

Electronic insurance will become mandatory for annual premium equal to or above Rs 10,000 (single/annual premium) in life insurance policies. Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) in its Issuance of e-Insurance Policies Regulations, 2016, said these norms would come into force from October 1.

Here, electronic insurance policy will mean a policy document which is an evidence of insurance contract issued by an insurer and digitally signed. Customers would have an e-insurance account, which will be an electronic account opened by a person with an insurance repository where the portfolios of insurance policies of a policyholder are held in an electronic form.

Irdai has asked every insurer soliciting insurance business through electronic mode to create an e-proposal form similar to the physical proposal form approved by Irdai. Such a form should enable capture of information in electronic form that would enable easy processing and servicing. The e-proposal form will also have a provision to capture the electronic Insurance Account (eIA) number.

The regulator said that electronic insurance policies can be issued by the insurers either directly to the policyholders or through the registered insurance repositories.

All policies issued in electronic form by the insurer directly to the policyholder will also be issued in physical form.

But, physical version of the electronic insurance policies need not be issued when electronic insurance policies are issued through the platform of registered insurance repositories.

For general insurance, for all retail policies (except motor) and individual personal accident and domestic travel with annual premium above Rs 5,000, the policy will have to be issued in electronic format. For motor, retail and individual foreign travel insurance, all policies will be issued in electronic format.

Micro-insurance policies are exempt from these norms.