Written by : Arti Ghargi
February 15, 2024
India’s apex insurance regulator, Insurance Regulation and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) on Tuesday unveiled the exposure draft of insurance electronic marketplace- Bima Sugam.
As per IRDAI, Bima Sugam will be a one stop solution for all insurance stakeholders vis-a-vis customers, insurers, intermediaries or insurance intermediaries and insurance agents.
The Digital Public Infrastructure seeks to enhance availability, accessibility and affordability of insurance while empowering and protecting the interest of policyholders.
The move is aimed to increase insurance penetration in India to achieve the vision of “Insurance for all by 2047”.
The primary objectives include promoting transparency, efficiency, and collaboration throughout the insurance value chain. It is designed to foster technological innovation, universalize insurance coverage, and democratise access to insurance products.
According to IRDAI, Bima Sugam will be incorporated under Sec 8 of Companies Act, 2013 as a not-for-profit company. It will also nominate two members on the Board of Company.
The company will establish, facilitate, develop, operate and maintain the marketplace for providing various services to the insurance stakeholders.
Controlling stake of the Bima Sugam will not be held by any single entity, instead the shareholding will be distributed amongst life, general and health insurers. These shareholders will contribute to capital needs of the company as and when required.
A Risk Management Committee will be constituted to mitigate various risks associated with the operation of the marketplace.
The appointment of the Chairperson and CEO of the company will require prior approval from the regulatory authority. The infrastructure will operate on a consent-based architecture, ensuring that consumers are not charged for availing services through Bima Sugam.
Comments or suggestions on the proposed regulations can be submitted by March 4.
Bima Sugam which has been in the works for nearly two years, initially had a budget of INR 85 Cr which was later increased to INR 200 Cr.
Talking about the significance of Bima Sugam, IRDAI chairman Debashish Panda back in 2022 had called it ‘UPI Moment’ of insurance terming it a ‘game changer’.
"Bima Sugam will be a one-stop shop for buying and selling insurance, for policy servicing, and also for claim settlement. Insurance companies can onboard the platform. It's going to be plug and play with API (Application programming interface) interface," Panda had told PTI in an interview.
Unified Payment Interface, launched in 2016 saw a huge success in India with its user base growing multi-fold attracting the attention from other countries who are keen on replicating the same.
Bima Sugam is envisaged to serve as a unified hub for policyholders to effectively manage their insurance coverage while offering solutions for customers' insurance requirements, like purchase, servicing, and claim settlement processes in a seamlessly integrated manner.
One of the primary objectives is to streamline the accessibility of validated and authentic data from diverse touchpoints in real-time for insurance companies.
This centralised platform will also serve as an interface for intermediaries and agents to market policies and render services to policyholders, thereby streamlining operations and reducing paperwork.
It is anticipated that Bima Sugam will lead to reduction in policy commissions saving costs for customers.
Presently, the insurance landscape is characterised by a plethora of schemes across life and non-life sectors, often leaving customers overwhelmed and uncertain about the most advantageous options available.
Bima Sugam aims to address this challenge by offering a consolidated platform where customers can easily compare and evaluate different schemes, thus eliminating the need for extensive agent consultations and navigating through multiple insurer websites.
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME) is an executive organization dedicated to serving senior digital health leaders. CHIME includes more than 5,000 members in 56 countries and two US territories and partners with over 150 healthcare IT businesses and professional services firms. CHIME enables its members and business partners to collaborate, exchange ideas, develop professionally and advocate the effective use of information management to improve the health and care throughout the communities they serve. CHIME's members are chief information officers (CIOs), chief medical information officers (CMIOs), chief nursing information officers (CNIOs), chief innovation officers (CIOs), chief digital officers (CDOs), and other senior healthcare leaders. The CHIME India Chapter became the first international chapter outside North America in 2016 and is now a community of over 70+ members in India. For more information, please visit www.chimecentral.org