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IRDAI BIMA VAHAK GUIDELINES, 2023

IRDAI dated October 9, 2023 has issued Bima Vahak (BV) Guidelines in accordance with the powers conferred upon it. These Guidelines are known as “Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Bima Vahak) Guidelines, 2023” . These Guidelines shall come into force from the date of launch of Bima Vistaar (a comprehensive Insurance product which will be issued in due course).

These guidelines have been issued to establish a dedicated distribution channel that is focused on creating awareness as well as enhancing the insurance inclusion in every village/Gram Panchayat (GP), thereby, improving accessibility of Insurance all over the country. The channel shall also identify and develop resources locally, who understand and appreciate local needs and enjoy trust of locals.

BVs are engaged for providing services under these Guidelines and are further classified as:

  • Individual BV
  • Corporate BV registered in accordance with respective laws.

Key highlights of the Guidelines are as follows:

  • Engagement/Appointment of BV:
  • For solicitation of insurance business and to facilitate policy and claims servicing, Insurers may:
  • engage the services of a CBV and/or
  • appoint IBV
  • Insurers shall be responsible for all actions and conduct of BVs.
  • The CBVs shall:
  • Appoint individuals as BVs, as per terms and conditions of the agreement.
  • solicit insurance product, facilitate policy and claims servicing only through BVs.
  • A BV shall:
  • sell and service Bima Vistaar and such other insurance products as mentioned by the authority.
  • sell and service using handheld electronic communication devices that are directly integrated to electronic platform of the Insurers.
  • not be allowed to collect any fees or charges from policyholders or prospective policyholder, other than the insurance premium.
  • The Life Insurance Council and General Insurance Council shall be jointly responsible for establishing a common set of operational and conduct standards which shall include minimum educational standards, scales of commissions, training requirements, standard terms of appointment, maintenance of database including confidentiality of the data of all policies solicited through BVs and other operational and compliance aspects.
  • Insurers shall have a Board approved policy in respect of matters related to BVs in accordance with standards set.
  • Insurers shall endeavor to engage IBVs and/or CBVs with the focus to progressively achieve coverage of every GP. BVs shall be deployed in every GP before December 31, 2024. Lead Insurers of each State/Union Territory shall coordinate deployment of resources to ensure coverage of GPs as per following Structure:

S.No

Insurer

GPs to be covered*

Lead Life Insurer (s)

40%

Lead Non-Life Insurer (s)

40%

Lead Health Insurer (s)

5%

All other Insurers together

minimum 15%

*Thereafter, depending on the requirements and demand, Insurers are free to engage and deploy as many BVs as may be required.

  • Scope of Activities of BV:

The activities that may be assigned to BVs include:

  • Filing of proposal forms, KYC requirements through hand held electronic communication devices and issuance of insurance policies.
  • Coordination and support in policy and claims related servicing, as applicable.
  • Support in claims settlements.
  • KYC Compliance:

Insurer shall remain responsible for ensuring KYC and AML compliance with respect to the policies sourced through BVs.

  • Collection of Premium:
  • Handheld device shall enable the prospects/policyholders to make premium payment through electronic mode to enable direct remittance of premiums to the designated bank account.
  • On receipt of premium, electronic message acknowledgement shall be issued immediately in either the local/regional language or Hindi/English, directly to registered mobile number and/or registered email-id of the prospects/policyholders as per the choice of the prospects/policyholders.
  • Internal controls of Infrastructure:

Insurer shall put in place systems, processes, internal controls and infrastructure to enable seamless interface with all BVs for providing necessary support services for their scope of activities.

  • Termination of BVs:
  • Where IBV is terminated, all insurance policies serviced by the BV shall be allotted, to another BV preferably within the same territory.
  • Insurer shall make arrangements to ensure uninterrupted service to the policyholders, including in situations where the termination is of a CBV.
  • Consumer Protection Measures:
  • Insurers and CBVs shall:
  • issue physical identification cards to the IBVs. The physical identification card may be supplemented by online ‘electronic IDs’ which shall bear an ‘expiry date’ and shall be revalidated by a freshly issued identification.
  • Lay down monitoring framework to ensure that solicitation and sales are of only the products allowed.
  • CBV at each of its retail outlets shall display:
  • Name of BV, appointing insurer and telephone numbers of the branch or other controlling office of the insurer.
  • A signage indicating all the services.
  • Name and contact details of designated Gradience Redressal Officer, Insurance Ombudsman, Complaints Handling Officer (CHO).
  • Complaints Handling Officer:

Insurers shall identify nearest local office of GP and designate a CHO, who specifically attend complaints and also establish process for speedy resolution.

  • Miscellaneous:
  • The Chairperson of the Authority may issue appropriate clarifications from time to time.
  • These Guidelines further facilitate onboarding and training of BVs.

Source category: IRDAI

Attachments

  • /2023/272_Bima_Vahak_Guidelines_2023_Annexure.pdf
  • /2023/272_IRDAI_Bima_Vahak_Guidelines_2023.pdf

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