The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) had extended the facility for life insurers to obtain electronic customer consent. The prolonged facility will be available till 31st March 2021.
Two months before, on an experimental basis, IRDAI had allowed the life insurers to procure the customer consent electronically for pure risk products, which means the policies that do not include any savings element. The permission was granted in the view of disruption of normal business activity following the outbreak of coronavirus pandemic and, the facility longs till 31st December 2020. Now as per the revised provision, it is extended to March.
Regarding this announcement, IRDAI said that, if the proposer seeks to give consent to the product offered, then the proposal form can be completed by attaching the digital signature or by clicking the verification link or by confirming the OTP shared. Also, the insurer should not demand payment of money towards the proposal deposit till the consent of the proposer is received.
In a circular, it is mentioned that, for the businesses called on by individual insurance agents and insurance intermediaries, life insurers are permitted to procure the customer’s consent without a wet signature on the proposal form. The completed form should be forwarded to the proposer on his/ her registered e-mail ID or mobile number in the form of a message with a link as the case may be.
Certain conditions have been enforced in respect of sales made by individual insurance agents. As per the proposed conditions, the insurance agents should not ask for non-single premium unit-linked insurance policies for annualized premium more than Rs. 50,000. Also, they are not permitted to solicit single premium unit-linked insurance policies more than Rs. 1, 00,000. Moreover, the insurer should validate a minimum of 3 percent of sales to confirm compliance with these provisions.
Insurers are asked to impart appropriate and timely training to all persons who are included in the sales or solicitation process. The training program is to make sure that the consent of the customer is procured only after giving clear information about the product being sold. Besides, the insurer has to take care of the grievances reported regarding the sales and take corrective actions accordingly.
