Rural mass unaware of insurance ombudsman

The rural population in Orissa is unaware of the role and scope of insurance ombudsman and hence, there is a need for concerted awareness drive to educate them on the subject, feels B P Parija, the insurance ombudsman appointed for the state.

“Our experience shows that most of the complaints reaching us are from the urban customers. There are a large number of insuring public in rural areas who are unaware of the scope of the rules regarding functioning of the ombudsman institution,” he said.

Though the grievance cell has not received any major complaint from rural areas, Parija said he was aware about irregularities in villages, where the premium collecting agents usually keep their customs in dark by not providing full information and proper documents about the insurance schemes.

 

“I am sure such practices are there in villages. But as the rural mass is not aware of the ombudsman facility they usually choose to remain silent,” he said.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India appoints insurance ombudsman to resolve consumer complaints across the country. There are 12 such ombudsmen in India who look after all insurance related complaints regarding life, health and vehicle insurance.

The dispute resolving cell has to provide fee less trial in the concerned area within three months. However, in complex cases, the time period can be expended.

During 2010-11 (upto February), the insurance ombudsman in Orissa received 358 complaints and has solved 323 of them so far. It took more than three months to solve 141 cases while the trial for 182 cases was completed within the stipulated time period.