Postmen, Grameen Dak Sevaks Likely To Start Selling Insurance Policies

New Delhi, December 6: The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has issued a guideline that may soon allow postmen and grameen dak sevaks to sell insurance policies under the sponsorship of India Post Payments Bank (IPPB).

IPPB intends to leverage Department of Post reach and visibility across lndia through its physical network of 1,55,000 post offices and last mile doorstep banking services enabled through its workforce of over 3 lakh grameen dak sevaks and postmen. IPPB has been set-up with a lean structure to focus on product strategy, technology excellence, customer and user experience and regulatory compliance.

“While issuing these guidelines the Authority had observed that there are a number of persons who are involved in undertaking simple and routine activities pertaining to solicitation and marketing of insurance policies. For example, the bulk of products in motor insurance, travel insurance, personal accident insurance and term insurance require very little undenarating,” the guideline said.

These happen to be largely pre-underwritten products wherein based on the information provided by the prospect, the insurance policy is automatically generated by the system. The intervention required for such a product is minimal and the training and examination for such persons could be of a lesser degree.

Therefore, in order to facilitate the growth of insurance business in the country and to enhance insurance penetration and insurance density, the Authority as part of its developmental agenda issued the guidelines on "Point of Sales Persons."

“These postmen and grameen dak sevaks will be operating largely in un-banked and under-banked geographical areas and can provide the last mile reach to sell insurance products in remote and rural areas. This would provide financial inclusion and increase insurance density and penetration in the country, which is in line with the objective of the Authority,” the guideline stated.

The Department of Posts will identify the postmen and grameen dak sevaks and furnish the list to the Authority through IPPB from time to time. The details of arrangements between IPPB and Department of Posts on behalf of postmen and grameen dak sevaks shall be filed with the Authority.