Can anyone share their thoughts on effect of bima sugam on policybazaar ?
I think their margins will come down & some sales growth. But it may not be disastrous as finally dont expect free to be great experience for customers.
Discl - not holding.
Yet to hear any guidelines from the regulator although the media is already talking superficially about it. Here is my opinion/thinking:
Being a regulatory initiative, I expect that it would be a data lake to -
- Improve transparency - By mandating all insurers to disclose more data in a standardized format
- Automate the audit of insurers by IRDAI.
- Provide online access to the policies and their lifecycle
Insurance being a push and complex product needs guidance both while buying insurance as well as servicing claims. This aspect is and would continue to be fulfilled by an agent, a key catalyst to source premiums for all insurance companies.
Agents like PB might be charged a small fee to access the data as the portal will be a cost center for the regulator. Any other monetary noose will dilute the core purpose of the regulator - an insurance product for the masses for various needs.
Overall, the focus should be convenience, implied by name (Bima Sugam) as well, and not cheap/free insurance.