Tata AIA Life Insurance Partners with CSC for Rural India Market

As part of its effort to deliver much-needed life insurance protection cover to rural households and safeguard their loved ones from life's uncertainties, Tata AIA Life Insurance Co Ltd, one of India's fastest-growing life insurers, has partnered with Common Services Centers (CSC), under the Ministry of Electronics & IT to engage its network of over 4 lakh Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) at the last mile for distribution of life insurance plans.

The partnership will allow Tata AIA Life Insurance to augment its reach to around 95% of gram panchayats, building in-roads to make life insurance accessible to the remotest areas of Bharat. Through its network, CSC will offer Tata AIA Life POS Smart Income Plus plan that provides the dual advantage of a life cover combined with savings. The plan offers guaranteed payouts of 120% of the Annualized Premium under the Regular Income Benefit option and a life cover to help protect loved ones. Under this plan, one can go for a sum assured up to INR 24,97,000. By paying premiums for 7 years, customers can enjoy a life cover for 15 years. Women policyholders enjoy a higher benefit for the plan. In case of emergency, consumers have the option to avail a loan against the policy.

Speaking on this occasion, Venky Iyer, Chief Distribution Officer, Tata AIA Life Insurance, said, "At present, life insurance penetration stands at 8-10% across the rural population in India. Our constant endeavor is to make life insurance available to every Indian household, and this alliance will further strengthen our distribution efforts by helping millions of customers in the remotest corners of the country through technology leverage and product innovation. With the help of CSC's technology-enabled distribution network spread across the country, we aim to play the role of change agent and address rural India's protection and savings needs through best-in-class products and services."

Dr Dinesh Kumar Tyagi, Managing Director, CSC e-Governance Services India Limited, said, "CSC has been providing insurance services to citizens since 2014. Through our partnership with Tata AIA Insurance, we have added new products like Tata AIA Life POS Smart Income Plus plan, endowment and income plans to our existing catalogue. With the disruption caused by the Covid pandemic, be it in income, health or businesses, there has been a greater sensitivity among citizens for insurance. Citizens in urban as well as semi-urban and rural areas can now access these insurance services at their nearest CSC and secure their as well as their families' future."

India, with a population of nearly 140 crores**, is still in nascent stages when it comes to life insurance. As per news reports, the Indian market accounts for only 1.5% of the world's total insurance premiums despite the size of its population. Coverage provided by traditional life or health insurance is low in the country as most of the population reside in rural areas that have thus far, remained untapped.

The alliance is part of Tata AIA Life's business growth strategy to expand its distribution network across smaller towns and rural India and contribute to industry efforts towards increasing life insurance penetration in the country.

Through this association, both CSC and Tata AIA Life Insurance will be able to promote insurance awareness and financial inclusion, enabling community to participate in buying insurance plans for financial protection, and leading to a collective social change.

Under this arrangement, licensed Village-level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) solicit Tata AIA Life's insurance products from the customer who comes to the CSCs for their services. If the consumers decide to buy the solution, they can complete the purchase by paying the premium to the VLEs by cash, cheque or other electronic transfer modes like an e-wallet. Upon receiving the premium, the VLE logs into the Digital Seva Portal with individual login credentials. The CSC redirects the VLE to the Tata AIA Life platform and completes the application form and KYC process. Following the payment notification through payment API, the payment receipt gets generated. VLEs download the pdf receipt, print and hand over the same to the customer.

Common Services Centers (CSC) is one of the mission mode projects under the Digital India Programme. CSCs offer assisted access to essential government and public utility services, social welfare schemes, financial services, education, and skill development courses, apart from a host of B2C services. There are over 4 lakh CSCs functioning across the country as delivery points of government and public services for the rural population in rural, semi-urban and urban areas.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA) granted license to CSC SPV to work as an Authorized Intermediary to market specifically approved insurance products through the Rural Authorized Persons (Village Level Entrepreneurs) in 2013. Accordingly, Insurance sales and service was launched on the e-KYC platform through the CSC network in August , 2014. The License permits both Life and Non-Life Insurers in India to Market Retail Insurance products and Services through the CSC network.

Tata AIA Life Insurance Company Limited (Tata AIA Life) is a joint venture company, formed by Tata Sons Pvt. Ltd. and AIA Group Ltd. (AIA). Tata AIA Life combines Tata's pre-eminent leadership position in India and AIA's presence as the largest, independent listed pan-Asian life insurance group in the world spanning 18 markets in the Asia Pacific region. For the financial year 2020-21, the total premium income of Tata AIA Life increased to INR 11,105.09 crore, a growth of 34%. For the same period, the Company registered retail new business weighted premium of INR 3,416 crore. The 13th month persistency of the Company was at 88.28%, and the Individual Death Claims Settlement ratio was at 98.02%. One of the fastest growing companies in the Life Insurance sector, Tata AIA Life maintained its rank no. 5, based on individual weighted new business premium.

Founded by Jamsetji Tata in 1868, the Tata group is a global enterprise, headquartered in India, comprising 30 companies across ten verticals. The group operates in more than 100 countries across six continents, with a mission 'To improve the quality of life of the communities we serve globally, through long-term stakeholder value creation based on Leadership with Trust'.

Tata Sons is the principal investment holding company and promoter of Tata companies. Sixty-six percent of the equity share capital of Tata Sons is held by philanthropic trusts, which support education, health, livelihood generation, and art and culture.

In 2020-21, the revenue of Tata companies, taken together, was USD 103 billion (INR 7.7 trillion). These companies collectively employ over 800,000 people. Each Tata company or enterprise operates independently under the guidance and supervision of its own board of directors. There are 29 publicly-listed Tata enterprises with a combined market capitalisation of USD 314 billion (INR 23.4 trillion) as of December 31, 2021. Companies include Tata Consultancy Services, Tata Motors, Tata Steel, Tata Chemicals, Tata Consumer Products, Titan, Tata Capital, Tata Power, Tata Communications, Indian Hotels, Tata Digital and Tata Electronics.

AIA Group Limited and its subsidiaries (collectively "AIA" or the "Group") comprise the largest independent publicly listed pan-Asian life insurance group. It has a presence in 18 markets - wholly-owned branches and subsidiaries in Mainland China, Hong Kong SAR3, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Myanmar, New Zealand, the Philippines, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Taiwan (China), Vietnam, Brunei and Macau SAR4, and a 49 per cent joint venture in India.

The business that is now AIA was first established in Shanghai more than a century ago in 1919. It is a market leader in Asia (ex-Japan) based on life insurance premiums and holds leading positions across the majority of its markets. It had total assets of US USD 330 billion as of 30 June 2021.

AIA meets the long-term savings and protection needs of individuals by offering a range of products and services including life insurance, accident and health insurance and savings plans. The Group also provides employee benefits, credit life and pension services to corporate clients. Through an extensive network of agents, partners and employees across Asia, AIA serves the holders of more than 39 million individual policies and over 16 million participating members of group insurance schemes.