According to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India’s (IRDAI) annual report, the online channel accounted for only 0.54 per cent of the total new business premium gathered by life insurers in 2016-17. Private players garnered more business online (1.13 per cent) than the industry average while the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) had a lower share (0.12 per cent). While these figures are indeed low, recent initiatives by life insurers are set to make the online channel far more attractive for customers in the near future.
Low base, but growing: In India, the agency channel has traditionally been very
