2023 was a watershed year for insurance sector, but there's more to come

Innovation in regulatory framework, promotion of ease of doing business while enhancing protection of policyholders’ interests and measures taken to expand the reach of insurance penetration make 2023 a year to remember in the insurance industry.

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The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) brought multiple reforms, focussing on three prominent themes – strengthening the ecosystem, improving accessibility & reach, and safeguarding policyholders’ interest.

Insurance Trinity

The regulator has envisaged three major initiatives Bima Sugam, a onestop digital platform, Bima Vistar, an all in one affordable insurance cover and Bima Vahak, a women-led field distribution force. Popularly labelled as the `Insurance Trinity’ , these initiatives are expected to be game changes for the insurance industry in the country bridging the existing gaps in the product design, pricing and distribution.

In terms of insurance penetration, the Lead Insurer Scheme was a major initiative to achieve expansion of the reach of insurance products. A new draft product design norms including a proposal for higher surrender value for nonlinked products and lower charges for insurers was also released by IRDAI.

“The year 2023 saw some marketmoving developments for the industry including the government’s decision to levy tax on income arising from insurance policies with an aggregated premium worth ?5 lakh every year, starting April 2023,’’ Sumit Rai, MD and CEO, Edelweiss Tokio Life Insurance.

”There was a sustained emphasis on digitalisation to reimagine customer and distributor management processes,’‘ Rai said.

Insurtech Sector