PSU general insurers report Rs 26,364 crore loss between FY17 and FY21

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All four public sector general insurers - New India Assurance, United India Insurance, Oriental Insurance and National Insurance - reported an aggregate loss of Rs 26,364 crore between 2016-17 and 2020-21, according to an audit report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG).

The losses of health insurance business of PSU insurers either wiped out or decreased profits of other lines of business, as per the audit report on third-party administrators (TPAs) in the health insurance business of public sector insurance companies.

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"The losses were on account of the group health insurance policies where premium charged was less and claim outgo was more in comparison to retail policies," said the CAG report.

The PSU insurers' market share in health insurance business is also reducing with respect to the stand-alone health insurers and private insurers.

The audit findings pointed out that the four insurers did not comply with the government directive to not exceed above 95 per cent the combined ratio of standalone group policies and 100 per cent for group policies involving cross subsidy.