The postman will soon deliver a different cover

Soon, your friendly postman will not just deliver mail, but also sell insurance products.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) is considering an application from India Post Payments Bank (IPPB) to deploy postmen and grameen dak sevaks as PoS (point-of-sales) persons to distribute insurance as a third party product.

The regulator has also issued guidelines in the regard.

“We would like to involve a significant number of point of sales persons to ensure deeper penetration of insurance,’’ Subhash C Khuntia, Chairman, IRDAI, told BusinessLine here.

The thrust will be on providing simple, easily understandable micro-insurance products at people’s doorstep, he added.

According to guidelines, IPPB, which is a corporate agent, may apply to the authority seeking permission to sponsor postmen and grameen dak sevaks of the Department of Posts to act as point-of-sales persons. Once the permission is granted, IPPB will be responsible for all acts of omission and commissions of its personnel.

IPPB intends to leverage the Department of Post’s reach across India through its network of 1,55,000 post offices and over 3 lakh postmen and grameen dak sevakas.

The Department of Posts will identify its field staff and furnish their list to the IRDAI through IPPB from time to time. The IPPB may have tie-ups with as many insurers as allowed under the norms.

It will take responsibility for training and certification of postmen and grameen dak sevaks on the lines of point-of-sales persons for insurance.