The new business premium (NBP) in life insurance’s micro-insurance segment in 2023-24 surpassed Rs 10,000 crore for the first time, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) said.
As per the financial year’s Annual Report by Irdai, the overall NBP rose to Rs 10,860.39 crore, rising 23.5% from Rs 8,792.8 crore in FY23.
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Individual NBP dropped 23.78% year-on-year (Y-o-Y) to Rs 152.57 crore while group NBP rose 24.61% Y-o-Y to Rs 10,707.82 crore.
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Private insurers collected group premiums worth Rs 10,690.73 crore, from 469 schemes, while LIC gathered Rs 17.09 crore, from 4,993 schemes. Private life insurers drove the segment with over Rs 10,708.4 crore while LIC accounted for nearly Rs 152 crore, Irdai said.
As per the Irdai report, the number of micro-insurance agents at the end of FY24 stood at 102,000, of whom 19,166 belonged to public-sector life insurers and the rest to private ones.
Of the micro-insurance agents, non-government organisations form 4.49%, self-help groups 0.25 per cent, microfinance institutions 0.24%, business correspondents 0.12 per cent, and others 94.90 percent.
Micro insurance offers affordable products to help low-income people cope with financial losses.
Micro-insurance agent was introduced to attract more intermediaries to the segment and leverage grassroots organisations.
Irdai issued micro-insurance norms, in accordance with which the sum assured offered life, pension, or health benefits up to Rs 2 lakh with an annual premium for micro-variable insurance products under the “non-linked non-par platform” capped at Rs 6,000.
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