IRDA wants Jan Bima Yojana for increased insurance penetration

In order to increase insurance penetration and also agents productivity, the government should promote Jan Bima Yojana for the poor and also relaxing the cap on agency commission, India's insurance regulator said Monday.

Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of the insurance summit organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) here, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) chairman T.S.Vijayan said there should be Jan Bima Yojana to increase the insurance awareness amongst people.

He said the central government's recent scheme Jan Dhan Yojana has increased the banking awareness across the country.

The government has introduced the Jan Dhan Yojana as a measure of financial inclusion of the poor.

Vijayan also urged the insurers to sell small value policies to tap the large potential.

Addressing the conference, he said insurers should make the insurance agency a vibrant one by making it remunerative for the agents.

He said an individual agent should be able to earn a minimum of Rs.10,000 per month by selling policies.

Vijayan said the IRDA has proposed to remove the cap on first year commission paid to the agents on life insurance policies.

He also said there should be an overall cap on the charges that a policyholder is subjected to.