Government-owned insurance companies, mainly, are incurring losses of 80-100% on the prime minister’s accident insurance scheme, Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY). Compared with a premium of Rs 161 crore collected this year, insurance firms have disbursed claims of around Rs 290-320 crore. While they are planning to ask for doubling the premium levels for now — from Rs 12 per annum to around Rs 20-30 — even this may not be enough since similar insurance sold by these insurance companies can cost up to Rs 80 for a similar Rs 2 lakh cover albeit for individuals, and around Rs 45-50 for group insurance. A total of 13.4 crore persons have availed the PMSBY and, till March 5, a total of 20,249 claims were received; of these, 15,727 were settled. Launched in 2015, the insurance scheme gives a Rs 2-lakh cover for accidental death/permanent disability and Rs 1 lakh for partial disability. “In the past three years, claims from PMSBY have remained in the same range and the government had said that premium rate revision would be taken after three years,” said a senior official of a leading insurance company.
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