Insurance in India

Oriental Life Insurance Company, the first insurance company in India, was started by Europeans in Kolkata in 1818. The purpose of this company was to serve the needs of the European community. There was discrimination between the lives of Europeans and Indians in the pre-independence era in India. Higher premiums were charged for the lives of Indians compared to the lives of foreigners. Later, in 1870, the Bombay Mutual Life Assurance Society was established, the first company for Indians that covered Indian lives at normal rates.

As soon as the 20th century began, companies in this field began to grow like mushrooms. The insurance business was regulated for the first time in 1912 as the Life Insurance Companies Law, and in that year the Provident Funds Law was approved. In accordance with the previous Law of 1912, it became necessary for the tables of premium rates and the periodic valuations of the companies to be certified by an actuary.

National Insurance Company Ltd., founded in 1906, is still in existence and doing business today. There were only two types of insurance viz. life is to say LIC and general is to say GIC.

General Insurance Company had four subsidiary companies. As of December 2000, these subsidiaries have been spun off from the parent company and become independent companies: Oriental Insurance Company Limited, New India Assurance Company Limited, National Insurance Company Limited and United India Insurance Company Limited.

Insurance in India continues to be a growing sector with huge potential. This sector in India has gone through a number of phases and changes, particularly in recent years when the Government. India in 1999 opened up this sector by allowing private companies to apply for insurance and also allowed FDI up to 26%. Since then, the Indian insurance sector is seen as a booming market and all other global companies in this sector want to keep the lion’s share. Currently, the largest life insurance company in India is still owned by the government.