State-owned life insurance behemoth LIC's CEO and MD Siddhartha Mohanty on October 22 pitched for using the e-commerce and telecom network to distribute policies deep in the country.
"As we are serious about 'insurance for all', we must rethink how we distribute and market insurance products," Mohanty said, speaking at an event organised by CII in Mumbai.
He said the current channels, including agents, brokers, and bancassurance have been effective, but fraught with its own limitations given the challenge of taking insurance to each citizen of the country.
Specifically, the current models have "limitations" to taking insurance to the vast and underserved rural market, the LIC executive said, adding that the future is in opening non-traditional channels.
"Collaborating with non-traditional players, such as telecom companies, fintech firms and e-commerce platforms, we can significantly increase our outreach," he said.
"These organisations have unparalleled access to remote and underbanked communities. By partnering with them, we can ensure that affordable and accessible coverage is available to all," he added.
Adopting a newer approach will hugely increase the spectrum of insurance products across the insurers that will be available for sale to meet the varied needs of the customers, he said, stressing that reaching over a billion people "is no easy task".
Mohanty also said that digital technologies should be a key to reaching rural and low-income groups and sought regulatory support to ensure that any innovations are "nurtured and scaled appropriately".
Technologies and platforms like artificial intelligence, machine learning and automation are revolutionising the entire insurance sector and making it more customer-friendly, he said.
Earlier, he also said there is a need for better retirement solutions to ensure that people retire with dignity and pitched for partnerships between public and private entities to attain the same goal.
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