Web aggregator Policybazaar on Friday said it has embarked its insurance broking journey with 15 outlets and aims to expand it to 100 locations.
Recently, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) approved insurance broking licence proposal of the company.
With this development, the company surrendered its web aggregator licence to IRDAI.
Also read: Policybazaar gets insurance broking licence from IRDAI
The company is rolling out comprehensive plans for various segment including fast-growing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to serve customers better by having an offline presence, Policybazaar.com said in a statement.
As a first step, the company is launching offline retail stores across India, it said, adding, the brand has set up 15 stores and will eventually expand to 100 locations.
Brick-and-mortar stores
The brick-and-mortar stores will serve as experience centres for customers and provide them with the comfort of a local physical presence to help resolve any queries or service requests, it said.
Through the stores, customers will have access to Policybazaar's proprietary comparison engines that will help them choose the right insurance product, enhance their ability to compare multiple products, all underpinned by a seamless end-to-end technology in the insurance journey, it added.
To drive the business, the company has roped-in former executive director of SBI Life Insurance, Rajiv Gupta to lead its expansion plans in the offline space.
Commenting on the expansion, Policybazaar.com CEO Yashish Dahiya said: “We could not have done justice to our objective of increasing India’s insurance penetration levels with online channels alone. We are glad to be able to offer more products and our services with diversified insurance solutions to those more comfortable with physical meetings and offline stores.”
Policybazaar as a broker will now also be able to provide its existing and new customers on-ground claims support, he said, adding, the company through its offline presence aims to cater to this market by offering customers affordable, reliable, and sustainable insurance products.
The parent company PB Fintech also promotes Paisabazaar.com, which is an online credit comparison portal.
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.