Composite insurance cover Bima Vistaar inches closer to reality as insurers agree on a model  Business News & Hub

India’s insurance companies have agreed on a simple yet comprehensive and customer-friendly model for Bima Vistaar, the composite cover mooted by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).

It will be the first ever such product covering death, personal accident property and surgical hospitalisation with each line of the risk, co-insured between all the insurers of that corresponding line of business within an omnibus co-insurance arrangement, IRDAI said on the deliberations at the two-day Bima Manthan quarterly meeting with CEOs of insurers conducted here from February 13.

“Discussions dwelled into operating model and implementation strategy… touched all aspects including compliance, operational simplification and ease of operations despite navigating different risk. A compliant, simple, comprehensive and customer friendly model has now been signed off by the top brass of the industry,” the regulator said.

With the project reaching a crucial juncture, the team concerned has upgraded the operating mechanism to complete rest of the technology build for Vistaar, which together with the women-centric insurance field sales force Bima Vahak and insurance e-marketplace Bima Sugam form Bima Trinity on which India is betting big to achieve the Insurance for All by 2047 goal.

The Bima Trinity is progressing steadily toward implementation. Portal for Bima Vahak is almost complete and gearing up for soft launch for onboarding women agent from April. “Implementation of Bima Sugam is going as planned… to be established as a robust digital public infrastructure enabling seamless integration with various services to facilitate purchase, sale, servicing of insurance policies, settlement of insurance claims and grievance redressal,” IRDAI said in a release. Bima Sugam India Federation, which will build and operate the platform, has completed foundational actions and ready to be capitalised by the “enthused industry participants,” it said.

Spell IPO timeline

Discussions at the quarterly meeting, ninth in the series, centred around various issues, including need for stress testing, scenario analysis and an effective asset liability management. “Emphasis was laid on the need for insurers to have a roadmap for [public] listing,” IRDAI said, seeking to highlight importance of strengthening financial position and exploring investment avenues. The National Bank for Financing Infrastructure and Development also made a presentation, at the meeting to insurers, on infrastructure investments and bond markets.

The push to go public, which besides opening access to funds is also expected to improve corporate governance, comes in the backdrop of Union Budget 2025-26 allowing 100% foreign direct investment in insurance companies and the Life Insurance Corporation of India scouting for a partner among standalone health insurers for its proposed health insurance foray.

Performance of insurance sector, strategies to reach last mile, especially expanding physical presence in every district as also adopting a phygital approach, strengthening risk management framework to face challenges, including rampant cyber risks, were discussed at the meeting. The regulator stressed need for ensuring timely and transparent public disclosures on the websites of insurers. It advised insurers to ensure seamless claim settlements and prompt grievance redressal as well as timely and effective implementation of ombudsman awards.

Distribution reforms

Amid intensifying debate on proposed open architecture for individual insurance agents under which they can solicit business for multiple insurers, the meeting also discussed distribution reforms on the anvil. The reforms “aim to empower individuals in the space of insurance intermediation through measures to enhance performance and productivity of the distribution channels, training and capacity building…” the regulator said.

A draft Scheme of State Insurance Plan to deepen inclusive insurance penetration and broaden coverage across States and Union Territories was unveiled at the meeting, IRDAI said.