As part of its effort to deliver much-needed life insurance protection cover to rural households and safeguard their loved ones from life’s uncertainties, Tata AIA Life Insurance, one of India’s fastest-growing life insurers, has partnered with Common Services Centers (CSE), under the Ministry of Electronics & IT to engage its network of over 4 lakh Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) at the last mile for distribution of life insurance plan.
The partnership will allow Tata AIA Life Insurance to augment its reach to around 95 per cent of gram panchayats, building in-roads to make life insurance accessible to the remotest areas in rural India. Through its network, CSC will offer Tata AIA Life POS Smart Income Plus plan that provides the dual advantage of a life cover combined with savings. The plan offers guaranteed payouts of 120 per cent of the Annualized Premium under the Regular Income Benefit option and a life cover to help protect loved ones. Under this plan, one can go for a sum assured up to INR 24,97,000. By paying premiums for seven years, customers can enjoy a life cover for 15 years. Women policyholders enjoy a higher benefit for the plan. In case of emergency, consumers have the option to avail of a loan against the policy.
Highlighting the roadmap, Venky Iyer, Chief Distribution Officer & Head of Marketing, Tata AIA Life Insurance said, “At present, life insurance penetration stands at 8-10 per cent across the rural population in India. Our constant endeavour is to make life insurance available to every Indian household, and this alliance will further strengthen our distribution efforts by helping millions of customers in the remotest corners of the country through technology leverage and product innovation. With the help of CSC’s technology-enabled distribution network spread across the country, we aim to play the role of change agent and address rural India’s protection and saving needs through best-in-class products and services.”
Underlining the partnership, Dr Dinesh Kumar Tyagi, Managing Director, CSC e-Governance Services said, “CSC has been providing insurance services to citizens since 2014. Through our partnership with Tata AIA Insurance, we have added new products like Tata AIA Life POS Smart Income Plus plan, endowment and income plans to our existing catalogue. With the disruption caused by the Covid pandemic, be it in income, health or businesses, there has been a greater sensitivity among citizens for insurance. Citizens in urban as well as semi-urban and rural areas can now access these insurance services at their nearest CSC and secure their as well as their families’ future.”
India, with an estimated population of nearly 140 crore, is still in the nascent stage when it comes to life insurance. As per the reports, the Indian market accounts for only 1.5 per cent of the world’s total insurance premiums despite the size of its population. Coverage provided by traditional life or health insurance is low in the country as most of the population reside in rural areas that have thus far, remained untapped. The alliance is part of Tata AIA Life’s business growth strategy to expand its distribution network across smaller towns and rural markets and contribute to industry efforts toward increasing life insurance penetration in the country.
Through this association, both CSC and TATA AIA Life Insurance will be able to promote insurance awareness and financial inclusion, enabling the community to participate in buying insurance plans for financial protection, and leading to a collective social change.
The modus operandi
Under this arrangement, licensed Village-level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) solicit Tata AIA Life’s insurance products from the customer who comes to the CSCs for their services. If the consumers decide to buy the solution, they can complete the purchase by paying the premium to the VLEs by cash, cheque or other electronic transfer modes like an e-wallet. Upon receiving the premium, the VLE logs into the Digital Seva Portal with individual login credentials. The CSC redirects the VLE to the Tata AIA Life platform and completes the application form and KYC process. Following the payment notification through payment API, the payment receipt gets generated. VLEs download the PDF receipt, print and hand over the same to the customer.
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