Page 7 - Insurance Industry

LIC to keep offices open on March 30, 31 to facilitate tax saving

Life Insurance Corporation will keep its offices open on March 30 and March 31 to facilitate taxpayers to complete tax saving exercise before the closing of the fiscal year. LIC's measure follows the announcement by banks that their branches will remain open on Saturday and Sunday. The RBI had earlier this month directed banks to keep their designated branches open for government transactions up to the normal working hours on March 30 and March 31, 2024. In a statement, the public sector insurer said as per the advisory by the insurance regulator IRDAI, LIC has decided to extend this special measure to the policyholders. "It has been decided that the Offices under the jurisdiction of zones and divisions will be kept open for normal operations as per official working hours on 30.3.2024 and 31.3.2024, in order to avoid any hardship to the policyholders," LIC said in a statement.

CarDekho Group eyeing 40% consolidated growth in FY25, says Amit Jain

Autotech and financial solution provider CarDekho Group is eyeing over 40 per cent consolidated headline growth in FY25 and is on the prowl for value-accretive acquisitions, chief executive and co-founder and Shark Tank India judge Amit Jain has said. Jain who leads CarDekho and is a familiar face on the business reality series Shark Tank India told PTI in an interview that the automobile marketplace (CarDekho) has been profitable for years now and hoped that profitability at a group level would come by in FY25, after which an IPO would follow. Jain described CarDekho as a "growth story with sustainability" and said the Group expects to notch 50 per cent growth (CAGR) in the current fiscal, with businesses like InsuranceDekho (insurtech platform) and Southeast Asia Business aiding growth. The South East Asian market (Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia) is yielding strong numbers, he said, adding that the company is evaluating the Middle East market (UAE and others) as the next

Natural calamities pushed disaster damages above $100 billion in 2023

In the US, homeowners are already struggling under rising insurance premiums

IRDAI approves Bima Sugam, 7 other regulations in 125th board meet

The board of the insurance regulator approved the 'Bima Sugam' platform where the policyholders can compare premiums and purchase a wide array of insurance products

Galaxy Health gets Irdai approval to launch health insurance business

According to the regulator, this is the sixth registration granted by IRDAI in around one year across the Life, Non-life, and Health segments

Insurance sector received Rs 54,000 crore FDI in 9 years, says DFS Secy

The government increased the permissible FDI limit from 26 per cent in 2014 to 49 per cent in 2015 and then to 74 per cent in 2021, he told PTI in an interview

Acko appoints Animesh Das as CEO, elevates Sanjeev Srinivasan to board role

Das was chief underwriting officer in the company

Tripura CM launches Rs 5 lakh health insurance scheme for 415,000 families

Tripura Chief Minister Manik Saha on Thursday launched a universal health insurance scheme under which 4.15 lakh families in the northeastern state will get an insurance coverage of Rs 5 lakh. Under the Chief Minister's Jan Arogya Yojana (CM-JAY) 4.15 lakh families including government employees who are not covered under PM-JAY will get the benefit of health insurance coverage of Rs 5 lakh each. "People become helpless when medical emergency emerges. Many people who are not covered under PM-JAY visit me with a plea for financial assistance to meet exorbitant medical expenditure. It has become a constraint for me to help all these people. This has led me to think of an alternative arrangement for those people who need help for treatment", Saha said while launching the CM-JAY. "It is indeed a historic moment for the state that we are rolling out CM-JAY to help the people with a healing touch to those who need assistance from the government. Under the scheme, each enrolled family will

Underwrite disruptions to boost mkt penetration: Irdai chief to insurers

Insurance players need to underwrite disruptions to make the vision of 'insurance for all' a reality by 2047, regulator IRDAI's chief Debasish Panda said on Tuesday. The chairman of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) also emphasised that the approach of 'one-size-fits-all' has become a thing of past due to the radical technology-driven changes taking place in the industry. It's time we retrieve our base, firm up our resolve and collectively underwrite disruptions in the insurance sector and make the vision of 'insurance for all' a reality by 2047. In this process, the role of the actuary becomes paramount. The disruptions in the insurance sector cannot happen without the support of actuaries, Panda said at the 23rd global conference of actuaries organized by the Institute of Actuaries of India here. "There is a need to come out of the traditional and conventional roles and embrace dynamism and agility and also there is a need to see the sector from a

Lack of full Bench takes a toll on SAT's functioning and efficiency

Industry players fear that if the Bench is not restored soon, it could hamper the fundraising and expansion plans of companies with pending litigation

LIC's VNB margin growth higher than private life insurers in Q3 FY24

VNB is a measure of the economic value of the profits expected to emerge from new business. VNB margin is the profit margin of the companies

New India Assurance Q3FY24 results: Net profit falls 4.38% to Rs 715 crore

The company had posted a loss of nearly Rs 200 crore in the second quarter of FY24

Parliamentary panel for introduction of composite licence for insurers

A parliamentary panel on Tuesday suggested the introduction of composite licence for an insurer to undertake life, general, or health insurance under one entity to increase penetration of insurance in the country. The panel headed by BJP leader Jayant Sinha suggested the government to introduce a provision of composite licensing for insurance companies and make the related amendment in legislation at the earliest. As per the Insurance Act, 1938, and the regulations of the Insurance Regulatory Development Authority of India, composite licensing for an insurer to undertake life, general, or health insurance under one entity is not allowed. The panel also suggested a reduction in the GST rate on insurance products, especially health and term insurance, which is 18 per cent at present. The high rate of Goods and Services Tax (GST) results in a high premium burden, which acts as a deterrent to getting insurance policies. The committee, with a view to making insurance more affordable, .

Temasek Holdings exits PB Fintech, sells entire 5.4% stake for Rs 2,425 cr

Singaporean sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings on Thursday sold its entire 5.42 per cent stake in Policybazaar's parent firm PB Fintech for Rs 2,425 crore through open market transactions. Temasek Holdings' wholly-owned subsidiary Claymore Investments (Mauritius) Pte Ltd sold the shares of PB Fintech in three tranches on the BSE. According to the block deal data, Claymore Investments (Mauritius) Pte offloaded a total of 2,44,30,015 shares, representing a 5.42 per cent stake in PB Fintech. The shares were disposed of at an average price of Rs 992.8 apiece, taking the combined deal value to Rs 2,425.41 crore. Meanwhile, US-based financial services company Capital Group, through its various affiliates, acquired the shares of PB Fintech in seven tranches. The stock of PB Fintech fell 0.59 per cent to close at Rs 996.90 apiece on the BSE. PB Fintech was co-founded by Yashish Dahiya and Alok Bansal in 2008. The company operates online insurance aggregator Policybazaar and credit ..

Star Health Insurance Q3 results: Net profit rises 37.5% to Rs 289.55 cr

The net commission of the health insurer dropped 13.11 per cent (Y-o-Y) to Rs 349.85 crore from Rs 402.64 crore

SBI Life Insurance posts weaker new business margin for April-Dec

Value for new business (VNB) - the expected profit from new policies - rose 11% to 40.40 billion rupees ($486 million), the company said, although margins contracted to 28.1% from 29.6% a year earlier

Statsguru: How the insurance industry is becoming a two-speed sector

Insurance penetration is the value of the premiums relative to gross domestic product. Life insurance penetration declined in 2022-23 (FY23)

Casual labourers in BRO projects to be covered under term insurance

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved a proposal to roll out a term insurance scheme for casual paid labourers engaged by the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) for various infrastructure projects. Under the scheme, a sum of Rs 10 lakh will be given to the next of kin in case of death of a labourer during project works, according to the defence ministry. "Defence Minister Rajnath Singh has approved a proposal to launch a group (term) insurance scheme for Casual Paid Labourers (CPLs) engaged by Border Roads Organisation/General Reserve Engineer Force for the ongoing project works," it said in a statement on Saturday. "This scheme will provide the insured value of Rs 10 lakh as an insurance in any kind of death to CPLs family/next of kin," it said. The ministry said the scheme will serve as a social security and welfare measure to the CPLs working in remote and far-flung areas of the nation. "Keeping in view the severe risk posed to the lives of CPLs posted in hazardous work-site

HDFC Life Q3 results: Profit rises 16% on higher investment income

The insurer's profit after tax rose to 365 crore rupees ($44.02 million) for the three months ended Dec. 31 from 315 crore rupees a year earlier

Premiums of non-life insurance companies rise 14.74% YoY in Dec 2023

In terms of the market share, the public-sector general insurers stood at 31.76 per cent of the overall insurance industry in December 2023 as against 33.16 per cent in December 2022