Finally, LIC rolls out online repository

The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) today launched its own insurance repository -- LIC E-services -- which will allow its existing customers to check details of policies, including settlement status, online as well as buy new ones.
The services to registered customers include status details on policies, bonuses, loans and claims. The portal will ensure access to policy-related information as well as payment anytime and anywhere, apart from buying a new policy online, Chairman S K Roy told reporters here.
The online facility was launched by Irdai Chairman T S Vijayan, who at one point served as the chief of the insurance behemoth. He recalled the steps taken by the financial powerhouse -- when the first IBM computers were installed in early 1980s and the Corporation headquarters was wired to its Santa Cruz back-end offices in 1987.

Calling for a single KYC framework for all financial instruments, Vijayan said the insurance industry will face the real challenge when the entire industry gets to access details from an open KYC architecture.
Managing Director Usha Sangwan said the Corporation began the digitisation drive in 2007, when Vijayan was the chairman, by digitising 4 lakh existing policies.
Chairman Roy said LIC has already sold 40,000 policies online during the pilot phase and does not believe that it will eat into the business of its 11 lakh agents.

The nation-wide launch comes after testing the facility at 50 locations, including remote ones, he added.

"I don't think the online service will any way affect the business of our agents. In fact, they are very enthused about this facility. This should only add to our incremental business and not eat into the agency sales," Roy said, adding that "during the current fiscal so far, we have sold 15 million new policies out of which 6,000 were the new E-Term policies".
Asked whether there is any discount to the customer who opts to buy online, Roy said there is no special discount except that the online buyer will not have to pay the commission.