CURRENT SCENARIO AND CHALLENGES OF INSURANCE BUSINESS IN INDIA
CURRENT SCENARIO OF INSURANCE BUSINESS:
In the Global Scenario: Globally, the share of life insurance business in total premium was 56.2%.However; the share of life insurance business for India was very high at 79.6% while the share of non –life insurance business was small at 20.4%. In life insurance business, India is ranked 11th among the 88 countries, for which data is published by Swiss Re. India’s share in global life insurance market was 2.00% during 2013.However, during 2013, the life insurance premium in India declined by 0.5 % ( inflation adjusted ) when global insurance premium increased by 0.7% The Indian non- life insurance sector witnessed a growth of 4.1 % (inflation adjusted) during 2013.During the same period, the growth in global non-life premium was 2.3 %. However, the share of Indian non-life premium in global non-life insurance premium was small at 0.66% and India ranks 21st in global non-life insurance markets. In the Indian Context:Insurance penetration and density in India:
The measure of insurance penetration and density reflects the level of development of insurance sector in a country, while insurance penetration is measured as the percentage of insurance premium to GDP; insurance density is calculated as the ratio of premium to population (per capita premium) During the first decade of insurance sector liberalization, the sector has reported consistent increase in insurance penetration from 2.71 % in 2001 to 5.2 % percent in 2009. However, since then, the level of penetration has been declining reaching 3.9% in 2013. A similar trend was observed in the level of insurance density which reached the maximum of USD 64.4 in the year 2010 from the level of USD 11.5 in 2001 during the year under review 2013, the insurance density was USD 52.0. The insurance density of life insurance business has gone up from USD 9.1 IN 2001 to reach the peak at USD 55.7 IN 2010. During 2013, the level of life insurance density was only USD 41. Similarly, the life insurance penetration surged from 2.15 % in 2001 to 4.60 % in 2009. Since then, it has exhibited a declining trend reaching 3.1 % in 2013. Over the last 10 years, the penetration of non-life insurance sector in the country remained steady in the range of 0.5-0.8 %. However, its density has gone up from USD 2.4 IN 2001 to USD 11.0 in 2013. Table 1 shows the insurance penetration and density in India.
Table 1 – Insurance penetration and density in India. |
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Year |
Life |
Non-Life |
Industry |
|||
Density (USD) |
Penetration (%) | Density (USD) | Penetration (%) | Density (USD) |
Penetration (%) |
|
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 |
9.1 11.7 12.9 15.7 18.3 33.2 40.4 41.2 47.7 55.7 49.0 42.7 41.0 | 2.15 2.59 2.26 2.53 2.53 4.10 4.00 4.00 4.60 4.40 3.40 3.17 3.10 | 2.4 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.4 5.2 6.2 6.2 6.7 8.7 10.0 10.5 11.0 | 0.56 0.67 0.62 0.64 0.61 0.60 0.60 0.60 0.60 0.71 0.70 0.78 0.80 | 11.5 14.7 16.4 19.7 22.7 38.4 46.6 47.4 54.3 64.4 59.0 53.2 52.0 | 2.71 3.26 2.88 3.17 3.14 4.80 4.70 4.60 5.20 5.10 4.10 3.96 3.90 |
- Insurance density is measured as ratio of premium (in USD) to total population.
- Insurance penetration is measured as ratio of premium (in USD) to GDP (in USD).
- The data of insurance penetration is available with rounding off to one digit after decimal from 2006.
Table 2 – Total Premium underwritten by life insurers (Rs. In crores)
Insurer | 2012-13 | 2013-14 |
LIC | 208803.58(2.92) | 236942.30(13.48) |
Private Sector | 78398.91(-6.87) | 77340.90(-1.35) |
Total | 287202.49(0.05) | 314283.20(9.43) |
Table 3 – Registered Insurers in India (As on 30th September, 2014)
Type of business | Public Sector | Private Sector | Total |
Life Insurance | 1 | 23 | 24 |
Non-Life Insurance | 6 | 22 | 28 |
Reinsurance | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Total | 8 | 45 | 53 |
Table 4 – Market share of life insurers (In per cent)
Insurer | 2012-13 | 2013-14 |
LIC | 72.70 | 75.39 |
Private Sector | 27.30 | 24.61 |
Total | 100.00 | 100.00 |
Table 5 – New policies issued: Life Insurers (In lakh)
Insurer | 2012-13 | 2013-14 |
LIC | 367.82(2.88) | 345.12(-6.17) |
Private Sector | 74.05(-12.28) | 63.60(-14.11) |
Total | 441.87(-0.01) | 408.72(-7.50) |
Table 6 – Paid Up Capital: Life Insurers (In crores)
Insurer | As at 31st March 2013 | Additions during 2013-2014 | As at 31st March 2014 |
LIC | 100.00 | 0.00 | 100.00 |
Private Sector | 25418.73 | 419.78 | 25838.51 |
TOTAL | 25518.73 | 419.78 | 25938.51 |
Table 7 – Gross Direct Premium Income In India: Non-Life Insurers (Rs. In crores)
Insurer | 2012-13 | 2013-14 |
Public Sector | 35022.12(14.60) | 38599.71(10.21) |
Private Sector | 27950.53(25.25) | 32010.30(14.52) |
Total | 62972.65(19.10) | 70610.02(12.13) |
Table 8 – New policies issued: Non-Life Insurers (In lakh)
Insurer | 2012-13 | 2013-14 |
Public Sector | 689.68(30.59) | 600.06(-12.99) |
Private Sector | 380.56(15.57) | 424.47(11.54) |
Total | 1070.24(24.82) | 1024.52(-4.27) |
- Excluding Standalone Health Private and Specialised Insurers
Table 9 – Paid Up Capital: Non-Life Insurers (In crores)
Insurer | As at 31st March 2013 | Additions during 2013-2014 | As at 31st March 2014 |
Public Sector | 600 | Nil | 600 |
Private Sector | 5975 | 251 | 6226 |
TOTAL | 6575 | 251 | 6826 |
Challenges for Insurance Business in India
The transition of the insurance industry from a public monopoly to a competitive environment now presents very interesting challenges, both to the new players and to the customer. The benchmark of success of organization is not only determined by the rate of return but also by the quality of corporate governance. So good corporate governance practices should be followed by the companies as well as by the regulator. Though LIC has done commendable work, there is still a great deal of scope for bringing in innovative products and distribution channels to tap insurance market. Currently the product-market relationship is dominated by personalized selling rendered by tied agents. So the agents should be able to understand the complexity to assess the requirement of the populace and then only advice on the appropriate policy, which suits, to the needs of the population. Also, companies will have to transform customer relationship management to the value-based client relationship. The CRM challenge will have the pyramid of three sub-challenges i.e. product development, pricing mechanism, and technology management. Insurance business is based on averages and spreading of risks. So, a flexible pricing structure for sustaining customer confidence and interest will be a challenging task before Indian issuers. The majority of insurance companies today are under tariff, that means insurance companies cannot price the product to suit the customer of customer group. The way to service customer is to segment the market and offer the correct product at the correct price to that market segment. There is a huge untapped potential in India, which needs to be targeted. The distribution channel is a medium to reach the masses in urban, semi-urban and rural areas. So, the insurance company should focus on pricing, distribution, risk management and investment decision-making.Measures to Counter the Challenges of Insurance Business in India
- Insurance companies in India will have to develop appropriate channels to tap this huge market as the core of insurance business hinges on an efficient distribution.
- Direct marketing is one of the most successful channels of distribution in the developed economics. It is a great way to reach a large population. So the product should be sold through telemarketing or direct mail.
- In the insurance business, cost control and ability to serve a large number of customers are crucial issues. So, modern technology is to be adopted to handle both the services effectively.
- Today, customers are well-equipped with information, so insurance companies should reposition different products by changing customer attitudes.
- The actuary should be required to attend minimum number of seminars called continuous professional development courses for financial control of the organisation.
Author : R.C.Nagaraju & Dr.P.Paramashivaiah
References 1) Prava Tripathy, Nalini, ’Financial Services’, Prentice Hall of India Private Limited, New Delhi – 11001, Edition: 2008, pp: 238-249. 2) IRDA Annual Report 2013-14. 3)www.insurance.com 4)www.worldinsurancebazar.com
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