• Initiative to help increase India’s Life Insurance Rural Penetration from 8 -10% currently *

• CSC to distribute Tata AIA Life’s POS Smart Income Plus plan, which offers the dual advantage of savings and protection
  

Mumbai: 09^th April 2022: As part of its effort to deliver much-needed life insurance Protection cover to rural households and safeguard their loved ones from life’s uncertainties, Tata AIA Life Insurance Co Ltd, one of India’s fastest growing life insurers, has partnered with Common Services Centers (CSE), under the Ministry of Electronics & IT to engage its network of over 4 lakhs Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) at the last mile for distribution of life insurance plan.

The partnership will allow Tata AIA Life Insurance to augment its reach to around 95% of gram panchayats, building in-roads to make life insurance accessible to the remotest areas of Bharat. Through its network, CSC will offer Tata AIA Life POS Smart Income Plus plan that provides the dual advantage of a life cover combined with savings. The plan offers guaranteed payouts of 120% of the Annualized Premium under the Regular Income Benefit option and a life cover to help protect loved ones. Under this plan, one can go for a sum assured up to INR 24,97,000. By paying premiums for 7 years, customers can enjoy a life cover for 15 years. Women policyholders enjoy a higher benefit for the plan. In case of emergency, consumers have the option to avail of a loan against the policy.

Speaking on this occasion, Venky Iyer, Chief Distribution Officer, Tata AIA Life Insurance, said, “At present, life insurance penetration stands at 8-10% across the rural population in India. Our constant endeavour is to make life insurance available to every Indian household, and this alliance will further strengthen our distribution efforts by helping millions of customers in the remotest corners of the country through technology leverage and product innovation. With the help of CSC’s technology-enabled distribution network spread across the country, we aim to play the role of change agent and address rural India’s protection and savings needs through best-in-class products and services.”

Dr Dinesh Kumar Tyagi, Managing Director, CSC e-Governance Services India Limited, said, “CSC has been providing insurance services to citizens since 2014. Through our partnership with Tata AIA Insurance, we have added new products like Tata AIA Life POS Smart Income Plus plan, endowment, and income plans to our existing catalogue. With the disruption caused by the Covid pandemic, be it in income, health or businesses, there has been a greater sensitivity among citizens for insurance. Citizens in urban as well as semi-urban and rural areas can now access these insurance services at their nearest CSC and secure their as well as their families’ future."

India, with a population of nearly 140 crores**, is still in the nascent stages when it comes to life insurance. As per news reports, the Indian market accounts for only 1.5% of the world’s total insurance premiums despite the size of its population. Coverage provided by traditional life or health insurance is low in the country as most of the population resides in rural areas that have thus far remained untapped.

The alliance is part of Tata AIA Life’s business growth strategy to expand its distribution network across smaller towns and rural India and contribute to industry efforts towards increasing life insurance penetration in the country.
Through this association, both CSC and TATA AIA Life Insurance will be able to promote insurance awareness and financial inclusion, enabling community to participate in buying insurance plans for financial protection, and leading to a collective social change.

Under this arrangement, licensed Village-level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) solicit Tata AIA Life’s insurance products from the customer who comes to the CSCs for their services. If the consumers decide to buy the solution, they can complete the purchase by paying the premium to the VLEs by cash, cheque or other electronic transfer modes like an e-wallet. Upon receiving the premium, the VLE logs into the Digital Seva Portal with individual login credentials. The CSC redirects the VLE to the Tata AIA Life platform and completes the application form and KYC process. Following the payment notification through payment API, the payment receipt gets generated. VLEs download the pdf receipt, print and hand over the same to the customer.

* https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/the-unexploited-insurance-market-of-rural-india/

** https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/india-population/

About Common Services Centers

Common Services Centers (CSC) is one of the mission mode projects under the Digital India Programme. CSCs offer assisted access to essential government and public utility services, social welfare schemes, financial services, education, and skill development courses, apart from a host of B2C services. There are over 4 lakh CSCs functioning across the country as delivery points of government and public services for the rural population in rural, semi-urban and urban areas.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) granted license to CSC SPV to work as an Authorized Intermediary to market specifically approved insurance products through the Rural Authorized Persons (Village Level Entrepreneurs) in 2013. Accordingly, Insurance sales and service was launched on the e-KYC platform through the CSC network in August , 2014.  The License permits both Life and Non-Life Insurers in India to Market Retail Insurance products and Services through the CSC network.