About 14 lakh agents are waiting in the wings to enter India's insurance industry this year - a lakh less than the number of passengers the Indian Railways carry every day.
Till a couple of years back, the aspirants totalled about 4 lakh
KOLKATA: Call it a Million Man March, if you want. The exact numbers, though, are a little above that.
About 14 lakh agents are waiting in the wings to enter India's insurance industry this year - a lakh less than the number of passengers the Indian Railways carry every day, but a nation on the move, in itself.
This is a phenomenal increase from about 4 lakh a couple of years back. And with more than half of them being part-time aspirants, the Insurance Regulatory & Development Authority (IRDA) has decided to cut the mandatory training to 50 hours from 100.
A series of discussions between IRDA and the industry in recent times will now translate into a reduction in training hours.
IRDA chairman C S Rao told DNA Money, "The life insurers want the changes and we felt it was alright, and hence, will look at it positively. The training module has to be modified."
Once the IRDA board approves this, it will be forwarded to the ministries of finance and law, following which the gazette notification will come through.
"The entire process is estimated to be completed in three months. However, agents who have already started training before the notification will need to complete the mandatory 100 hours. The exams held up to October will be held on the current 100-hour training syllabus," S Gidwani, secretary general, Insurance Institute of India said.
"With more than 90% of the agents being part-time, a lot of them were losing out on the economic front since the 100-hour training was mandatory. In fact, they had to, at times, give up their existing job and life insurers felt this was discouraging to an aspiring agent," Gidwani said.
Insurers said that the 100-hour training module was an economic loss if the candidates fail to pass the exam, after investing in them for over two weeks. According to insurance officials, the training process was rigorous, once the candidate passed the exam and enrolled with the company.
Rahul Sinha, vice-president, marketing, Kotak Insurance, said, "In fact, if the number of hours is reduced, it will help the industry recruit more people and will help in deeper penetration."
"The 50-hour training module will be more focused and this does not mean the aspiring agent would know less. We give one of the best training sessions with the help of 251 trainers that we have," Joydeep Roy, chief distribution officer, Tata AIG Life Insurance, said.
Interestingly, it may take some time to assess whether cases of cheating and fraud in insurance examinations, which have been reported, are likely to come down with any change in regulation in mandatory hours.
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