IRDAI asks insurers to issue Digilocker to policyholders

Insurance sector regulator IRDAI has asked insurers to issue digital policies to their policyholders and also tell them how to use these documents. In its circular issued to all insurers excluding GIC Re, Lloyd's and FRBs, IRDAI said that Digilocker will drive reduction in costs, elimination of customer complaints relating to non-delivery of policy copy, improved turnaround time of insurance services, faster claims processing and settlement, reduction in disputes, reduction in fraud and improvement in customer contactability. Notably, the decision of IRDAI has came against the backdrop of a letter written by Sanjay Dhotre, Minister of State for Electronics & IT, Communications and Human Resource Development, to Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of State for Finance and Corporate Affairs with regards to issuance of digital insurance policies to citizen's DigiLocker accounts. In the letter, Dhotre had requested Thakur to advise IRDAI to issue an advisory to all insurance companies to make available the digital insurance policy of all policy holders via their Digilocker account and acceptance of Digilocker issued documents as valid documents.