Back
BSFL & Royal Sundaram Launch Online Sale Of Health Insurance Product At Common Service Centers
• The First In India to Offer Rural Insurance Product online at CSCs
• The service is launched through a wide network of 650 CSCs in 5 districts of Maharashtra - Nasik, Nandurbar, Dhule, Jalgaon & Ahmednagar
Chennai, October 31, 2012: Bhartiya Samruddhi Finance Limited (BSFL), the Flagship Company of the BASIX Social Enterprise Group and Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Company Limited, pioneered in launching a web enabled solution at the Common Service Centres (CSCs) of BSFL that will enable the rural customers to receive the policy document of health insurance product instantly. The objective of this technological advancement is to provide customer convenience and ease, and encourage better adoption of insurance products in the rural areas. This initiative to offer Rural Insurance Products through the internet connected computers is the first of its kind in India.
CSC are outlets with a computer connected to the various departments of the state government and to businesses. The former provides Government to Citizen (G2C) services and the latter B2C services. BSFL runs over 3000 such outlets in five states.
Health insurance penetration is less than 5% of the population of India and it is even less in rural India. Recent NSSO data (60th round) indicates that major Consumption Expenditure is on Health: 13% in Rural and 10% in Urban.
Vijay Mahajan, Founder and CEO, BASIX Social Enterprise Group said, “Studies show that as many as a third of all households who have had a family member hospitalized, fall into poverty. Thus health is an important pre-requisite of economic well-being. By offering hospitalization insurance more widely, BSFL and RSA are doing their bit to improve the lives of the poor. "
Ajay Bimbhet, Managing Director, Royal Sundaram said, “Rural India has been at par with the urban populace in adapting to the latest in technology which is a progressive step. Secondly, the awareness of insurance in rural scenario is increasing along with the urban. BASIX with their acumen of rural India has been the significant contributor of our rural commitment. Together, we have come a long way in our products, services and deliveries to customers. With this technological progress, we aim to provide them the privilege of availing policies instantly. Going forward we would like to extend the online sale and service to our customers in the rural area in respect of all other GI products as well.”
Product & Process
Rural Hospital Cash, the most popular rural health insurance product, is now available for online sale at the CSCs. Rural Hospital Cash is a benefit policy that supports customers in meeting the expensive health related expenses.
The VLE (Village Level Entrepreneur) manning the CSC outlet will offer this service as part of financial inclusion, in addition to already existing B2C and G2C services. VLE will explain the details of the policy along with terms and conditions in the vernacular language. Since BSFL CSC portal and Royal Sundaram server are integrated fully, the policy document will be generated online on the spot. Both companies are in the process of making all the general insurance products available online through the CSC network.
Key highlights:
- Policy can be taken either on individual name or for the household
- Affordable cost
- Policy is generated online
- Customer receives the policy document over-the-counter in less than five minutes
- No pre-medical tests required
About Royal Sundaram
Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Company Limited is a joint venture between Sundaram Finance and Royal & Sun Alliance Insurance plc, UK, where the former holds 74% and the latter holds 26% of the equity. Royal Sundaram is the first private non-life Insurance Company licensed to operate in India.
Royal Sundaram offers a range of innovative general Insurance products which includes Motor, Health, Personal Accident, Home and Travel Insurance for individual customers. The Company’s Accident & Health claims process received ISO 9001-2008 certification for effective customer service delivery. For Commercial clients, Royal Sundaram offers a wide range of specialised insurance covers in Fire, Marine, Engineering, Liability and Business Interruption risks. Royal Sundaram also offers specially designed products to the Small and Medium enterprises and Rural customers. Royal Sundaram currently has over 5 million customers, 1700 employees and its products are distributed in over 180 cities across India, through Agents, Distribution Partners, Affinity Partners and Brokers.
About Sundaram Finance
Sundaram Finance, a Non-Banking Finance Company, is one of the most respected financial services companies in India. It finances the entire range of commercial vehicles, passenger cars, construction equipment & tractors. The Group's operations also extend to Insurance, Asset Management, Home loans, Business Process outsourcing and Infotech Solutions. Sundaram Finance has a Nationwide presence with over 500 branches and over half a million customers and depositors who are serviced by over 4000 employees.
About RSA
With a 300 year heritage, RSA is one of the world’s leading multinational quoted insurance groups. It has the capability to write business in around 140 countries and major operations in the UK, Ireland, Scandinavia, Central and Eastern Europe, Canada, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. Focusing on general insurance, it has around 23,000 employees and, in 2011, its net written premiums were £8.1 billion.
About BASIX
The BASIX Group is a conglomerate of financial and knowledge based social enterprises co-promoted by Vijay Mahajan in 1996. Over the years, the BASIX Group has promoted and supported several livelihood focused institutions such as BSFL, Krishna Bhima Samruddhi Local Area Bank (KBSLAB), CTRAN Consulting Services Ltd., BASIX Academy for Building Lifelong Employability (B-ABLE), BASIX Krishi Samruddhi Ltd., BASIX Sub-K iTransactions Ltd., BASIX Consulting and Training Services Ltd., and Group Affiliates Indian Grameen Services and The Livelihood School.
BASIX is the pioneer of micro insurance business in the country and has serviced over 3.5 million micro insurance customers in a commercially sustainable manner.
BSFL has set up more than 3000 CSCs in five states of Meghalaya, Tripura, Odisha, Punjab and Maharashtra. CSCs are last-mile rural access points equipped with Modern IT infrastructure, broadband connectivity, and national programs could be effectively delivered through an IT and web-enabled network that is managed by trained entrepreneurs. Such access points can drive tremendous synergies to Government’s developmental initiatives in the areas of education, agriculture, health and rural development.
For further information:
Saradamani Dey
Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Company Ltd.
saradamani.dey@royalsundaram.in