Telenor India offers free life insurance cover to consumers

Telenor insurance gives protection up to 100 times the value of recharge, maximum cover of Rs 50,000 per connection for a month. Telenor will work with Shriram Life Insurance and MicroEnsure to take the initiative to the masses.

In a first of its kind initiative in the telecom industry, Telenor India has announced free life insurance cover for its existing 47.55 million as well as potential new customers across its six operating circles.

Telenor will offer life insurance for free to all active customers of the company. By spending on regular recharges with a small incremental value, Telenor consumers will get the benefit of an life Insurance cover, which will be a hundred times of the monthly recharge value and up to a maximum of Rs 50,000. It aims to contribute to the financial inclusion agenda of the government ensuring financial security for family members.

Currently in India only 3.9% of the population has an insurance cover of any type. The primary reasons for the low penetration are issues like lack of awareness, cumbersome enrollment process, cost of insurance and lack of trust. Lack of distribution network has also restricted insurance products becoming popular and pervasive.

“This is an innovative product that will bridge the disparity in access to life insurance among the low and middle-income individuals. With insurance penetration being very low in the country, our scheme has the potential to empower society through financial security. Our deep understanding of mass-market consumers’ behavior, a huge retail network and efforts to create awareness around services beyond basic voice will enable us to remove persistent financial risks faced by our customers. With the life insurance offer, Telenor will create a unique differentiation in financial services just like we have done with our affordable mobile service,” said Vivek Sood, CEO, Telenor India.

Customers can avail this service by calling customer call center or dial the self-help menu *121# or opt-in for it by approaching any of the 2100 Telenor stores. For every recharge done by the customer, a 100X insurance cover will be provided to him. For customers availing this offer, there is no separate documentation required.

Telenor will work with Shriram Life Insurance and MicroEnsure to take the initiative to the masses. At each customer touch point, trained staff will be available to educate the customers and address their queries. In the unfortunate incident of death of a customer, the claim will be processed by submitting relevant documents like the death certificate, nominee id proof and the SIM card. The settlement will be done within seven days of submission of all relevant documents.

Shriram Life has a rich experience in insurance business and has already insured more than 1 crore lives. With an average ticket size of Rs 13000, Shriram Life has been focusing on mass market and has carved a distinct market position among the private insurers.

In August this year Telenor Group had got an “in-principle” approval from Reserve Bank of India to the joint application of Dilip Shanghvi Family & Associates (DSA) and IDFC to set up a payment bank in India. With this Telenor will be able to offer mobile banking solutions and extend the benefits of banking to the unbanked. Telenor is preparing to launch mobile banking services soon.