Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi

New Delhi, Sep 2: Public sector general insurance companies have been advised to focus more strongly on profitable lines of business and take suitable measures to reduce their incurred claim ratio (ICR) at a high-level performance review held on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Sanjay Lohiya, Secretary, Department of Financial Services (DFS).

The DFS Secretary urged government-owned insurance companies — National Insurance Company, United India Insurance Company, Oriental Insurance Company and Agriculture Insurance Company of India — to make greater use of technology and accelerate digitalisation while optimising expenditure on information technology and other digital initiatives.

He also advised the companies to ensure that customer grievances are addressed promptly, with adequate emphasis on the quality of grievance redressal, according to an official statement issued after the meeting.

The financial and business performance of the public sector general insurance companies for FY 2025-26 was reviewed, covering underwriting performance across various lines of business, key performance indicators, digital initiatives and other operational issues.

Lohiya emphasised the need to improve communication, publicity and customer outreach, including through social media and other platforms, to increase awareness of insurance products and expand the companies’ reach among underserved segments and areas.

The companies were also advised to improve insurance penetration and density while reducing protection gaps.

The DFS Secretary further stressed the need for stronger performance monitoring through a robust and standardised key performance indicator (KPI) framework across the insurance companies.

He said the KPIs should facilitate consistent and comparable assessment of both financial and non-financial performance across companies and should be reviewed quarterly.

The meeting was attended by National Insurance Company Ltd CMD Rajeshwari Singh Muni, United India Insurance Company Ltd CMD Bhupesh S. Rahul, The Oriental Insurance Company Ltd CMD Sanjay Joshi, and Agriculture Insurance Company of India Ltd CMD Lavanya R. Mundayur.

Senior officials of the Department of Financial Services, including Additional Secretary Debasish Prusty, also participated in the discussions.