Banking on insurance

Referring to the general perception that Indian banks force-sell insurance policies, at a recent event, Amitabh Chaudhry, managing director and chief executive officer of HDFC Life, borrowed a story from folklore. "Once a man went to a bank and took out a gun and said, 'I have Rs 2 lakh with me and wish to deposit it. You dare not ask me to buy an insurance policy'," he narrated, as the audience burst into laughter. To put things into perspective, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India in its regulations on corporate agent registration has said that no customer can be asked by corporate agents to buy insurance policy compulsorily, that every bank employee will be liable for the policy sold by her and data on this will have to be made available when asked for.