Grievance redress in the insurance sector is quicker now. The average time taken for a grievance to be addressed is around 14 days.
This has been made possible because of the integrated grievance management system set up by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority.
Ever since it became operational in April, over 90 per cent of the complaints registered have been attended to due to close monitoring by the regulator.
“The resolution of the complaints has been quite good,'' Mr J. Hari Narayan, Chairman, IRDA, told
The total number of complaints registered in the system as on December 9 was 2,71,324. Of these, about 1.95 lakh were attended to, while 23,741 complaints are pending. The turn-around time for a complaint was 14 days.
“The IGMS is also giving us insights into the very operation of the insurance industry and its response to customers as we can simultaneously monitor customer-interface of insurers in real-time,'' Mr Hari Narayan said.
The on-line portal is integrated with the portals of 48 life and non-life insurers.
PATTERN
The complaints related to non-receipt of policy bonds/contract documents (which come under unfair business practices) top the list followed by mis-selling of policies, especially in unit-linked segment in life insurance.
“Apart from company-related issues, it has also been noticed that inadequacies in postal services was also behind this,'' Mr Hari Narayan said. In the non-life segment, policy-related and claim-related complaints were in majority..
TOUGH ACTION
While the customers are happy, the speedy action by the regulator has led to strict action on insurers in some cases. The number of inspection teams visiting the insurers for on-site inspections has also gone up.
Interestingly, on-site inspections have also brought new lapses to the notice of the regulator.
For instance, IRDA warned Future Generali Life Insurance Company last month on the non-receipt of policy bonds and delays in cancellation of policies.
Life Insurance Corporation of India was asked to stick to stipulated time-frames following an on-site inspection.
“About seven to eight crore policies are sold in insurance every year. Less than three lakh complaints are not many if we take overall volume of business into consideration,'' Mr Hari Narayan added.