Common service centres begin sale of insurance products

Insurance products have been exclusively designed to sell on CSC platform

Marking the opening of a new sales channel aimed at increasing insurance penetration in rural areas, two insurance companies today launched sale and services through the common service centres (CSC) across India.

The CSC platform is currently being used by citizens to access and pay for the services offered by multiple government agencies and private sector players.

Set up under the national e-governance plan, about 140,000 CSCs are functioning under different names in different states.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irda) had issued guidelines for utilising the CSC network to sell insurance products in September 2013 and granted  licence to CSC SPV Limited in the same month.  The products being made available on the CSC platform will be sold by rural authorised persons or village entrepreneurs after they undergo a mandatory 20-hour training for acquiring basic knowledge about them.

Marking the occasion, IndiaFirst and the HDFC Ergo launched their savings-cum-life cover product and   non-life products for risk cover in health, motor and agriculture respectively on Wednesday.

About 18  life and non-life companies have signed  agreements with CSC SPV to roll out their products on this platform while many are in the process of securing approvals or about to link their online offering service with it, said CSC project manager Rishiraj Singh.

Except for motor insurance, the coverage provided under life and non-life  offered through CSCs should not exceed Rs 2 lakh. These products come at premiums ranging from Rs 100 to Rs 1,000.

Irda chairman TS Vijayan advised the companies not to adopt complicated products and procedures and ensure hassle-free claim settlement service to the policy holders.