Bima Sugam and all about Insurance sector of India Flashcards
NEWS
Recently, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has formed a steering committee to act as the apex decision-making body for the creation of its ambitious ‘Bima Sugam’ online platform.
IRDAI says Bima Sugam is an electronic marketplace protocol which would universalise and democratize insurance. This protocol will be connected with India Stack.
What is Bima Sugam?
It’s an online platform where customers can choose a suitable scheme from multiple options given by various companies.
All insurance requirements, including those for life, health, and general insurance (including motor and travel) will be met by Bima Sugam.
Features:
It will simplify and digitize the insurance marketplace— right from buying policies, to renewals, claim settlement, and agent and policy portability.
It will assist consumers with all insurance related queries.
Role:
The proposed platform would act as a single window for the policyholder to manage his/her insurance coverage.
It will provide end-to-end solutions for customers’ insurance needs i.e., purchase, service, and settlement.
Utility:
It will facilitate insurance companies to access the validated and authentic data from various touch points on a real-time basis.
The platform will interface for the intermediaries and agents to sell policies and provide services to policyholders, among others, and reduce paperwork.
Stakeholders:
Life insurance and general insurance companies will own a 47.5% stake each, while brokers and agent bodies will own 2.5% each in Bima Sugam Platform.
What is IRDAI?
IRDAI, founded in 1999, is a regulatory body created with the aim of protecting the interests of insurance customers.
It is a statutory body under the IRDA Act 1999 and is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance.
It regulates and sees to the development of the insurance industry while monitoring insurance-related activities.
The powers and functions of the Authority are laid down in the IRDAI Act, 1999 and Insurance Act, 1938.
What is India Stack?
India Stack is a set of APIs (Application programming interface) that allows governments, businesses, startups and developers to utilize a unique digital Infrastructure to solve India’s hard problems towards presence-less, paperless, and cashless service delivery.
It aims to unlock the economic primitives of identity, data, and payments at population scale.
Features:
Digital transactions through India Stack often have lower transaction costs compared to traditional methods. This benefits businesses, consumers, and the government by reducing the cost of conducting various transactions.
Bridging the wealth gaps and building an efficient and resilient digital economy that drives economic growth and social development.
Components:
The key components of INDIA STACK include Aadhaar (unique biometric-based identification system), Unified Payments Interface (UPI) for instant digital payments, and Digital Locker for secure storage of personal documents.
