Life insurance firms in India are planning to roll out approximately 500 new insurance schemes over the next couple of months, after getting clearance by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA).
In order to make policies more customer-friendly, the industry regulator IRDA has set deadline for the implementation of its new guidelines from 1 January 2014.
An IRDA official was quoted by The PTI as saying that the agency has checked and approved more than 500 products designed by the domestic life insurers.
Under the new guidelines, the life insurance products have been distinctly divided into three broad categories – traditional insurance plans, variable insurance plans (VIPs) and unit-linked insurance plans (ULIPs).
Due to the new insurance rules, Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has already ceased 48 insurance plans, including Jeevan Anand, Jeevan Madhur and Jeevan Saral and considering to roll out an array of new products.
Reliance Life Insurance, a private insurer, has designed more than two dozen new insurance policies, which include protection and retirement, for their launch in the next three months.
Reliance Life Insurance CEO Anup Rau was quoted by the PTI as saying, "We will begin selling 13-14 of our key products, which are compliant with the new product guidelines from January 1, 2014."
Both Aviva Life Insurance and Max Life Insurance have already rolled out an assortment of 13 new plans that are compliant with the new product guidelines.
Max Life Insurance director and product solutions management head V Viswanand said, "Of the 17 products for which we have clearance, 13 have already been re-launched. Another four will be introduced next month."
Under the new product guidelines, Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance has received approvals for its individual and group insurance plans and considering introducing three new insurance plans.
Bajaj Allianz Life Insurance managing director and CEO Anuj Agarwal told the news agency, "We are launching three new insurance plans which will cover the needs of individuals at their different life-stages and will be launching a suite of online and channel specific insurance plans by next month."
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Image: Life insurers plan to launch 500 new schemes in 2014. Photo courtesy of David Castillo Dominici /FreeDigitalPhotos.net.