Merchants’ Chamber of Commerce & Industry organized MCCI General Insurance Forum 2017 today at Hotel Lalit Great Eastern, Kolkata. The Forum aimed at bringing together CEOs of reputed general insurance houses, technology providers and consultants to lay down the future roadmap for General Insurance sector in India.
The Forum was addressed by Shri K. Sanath Kumar, Chairman & MD, National Insurance Co. Ltd.; Shri Praveen Gupta, MD & CEO, Raheja QBE General Insurance Co. Ltd.; Shri Joydeep K Roy, Partner & Leader, Insuarnce Allied Businesses, PwC India; Shri K V Dipu, President & Head of Operations, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co. Ltd; Shri Rajive Kumaraswami, MD & CEO, Magma HDI General Insurance Co. Ltd.; Shri Abhishek Rungta, Founder & CEO, Indus Net Technologies Pvt. Ltd. and other eminent personalities.
The topics of the Forum were :
- General Insurance in India : Charting the Way Forward
- Redefining General Insurance Distribution
- Leveraging Technology for Improved Customer Management
Dwelling on the central Theme of “General Insurance in India : Charting the Way Forward” and addressing the Forum as the Conference Chairman, Shri K Sanath Kumar spoke about the fast changing and unpredictable nature of general insurance (G.I.) sector. He said that the growth in this sector, which had risen to a phenomenal 32% in 2016–17 from 14% in 2015–16, was totally disconnected with that of GDP. The business in this sector was worth Rs. 1,28,000 cr., mostly driven by the non–profitable areas like Motor and Health. He pointed out that in spite of the huge growth, losses also increased from Rs. 10,000 cr. in 2014–15 to Rs. 21,000 cr. in 2016–17, the underwriting loss bringing in shrinkage in profitability. He informed the House that the G I sector provides direct employment of 1,20,000 people and creates livelihood for a huge ecosystem of 3–4 lakhs, including actuaries, agents, advocates and others. Although 400 million people are covered on a pan India basis, the penetration level has been as low as 1% of total population, he urged. He pointed out that 60% of the vehicles are not insured and suggested that a single regulation that motor accident claims should be filed within 6 months would bring in huge traction for motor insurance ensuring profitability. Similarly, reaching out to customers, identification of hospitals and managing health care would leverage health insurance. The principal challenges in insurance sector had been to bring in profitable business and how to manage capital, he asserted.
Other distinguished speakers expressed concern over low penetration rate of general insurance sector, lack of proper knowledge of customers, lower level of access to customer data and finally the balance between access to customer data & respecting privacy of the customers. It was unanimously agreed that technology would play a catalytic role in service delivery and convenience for customer satisfaction as GenY has been more tech–savvy.
The Welcome Address was delivered by Shri Ramesh Agarwal, President of the Chamber.