Press Information Bureau

Government of India

Ministry of Finance

20-March-2012 18:24 IST

Growth of 11% in Policies and 22% Per Cent in Premium of Conventional Plans of Life Insurance

As far as the, Conventional plans of Life Insurance policies are concerned, there is a growth of 11% in policies and 22% in premium as on 29.02.2012, whereas, there is a degrowth on the Unit Linked Insurance Plan (ULIP) which is a trend among the whole insurance industry.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Finance, Shri Namo Narain Meena in written reply to a question in Rajya Sabha today.

The Minister of State Shri Meena further informed that number of Agents is related to the business potential in the insurance market. Commission to agents are paid as per Section 40(A) (1) of the Insurance Act, 1938. Further, the commission rates for any new products are also approved by Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority. The Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) has reported that there is no instance of quitting of agents in lakhs in LIC due to reduced commission or strict guidelines to agents set for them by LIC.

The total number of LIC agents during the year 2010-2011 was 13,37,064 and as on 31.01.2012 it was 13,05,430.

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DSM/SS/Hb

Commission rules under Section 40A(1) govern agent payments, affecting life insurance product distribution and market trends. Agent remuneration and distribution are governed by statutory commission rules under Section 40A(1) of the Insurance Act, 1938, with commission rates for new products requiring regulator approval. LIC reported no mass quitting of agents due to commission reductions or internal guidelines and disclosed agent counts of 1,337,064 for 2010-2011 and 1,305,430 as on 31 January 2012.