Good news for policyholders: Now, get insurance premium receipts on phone through SMS

All the insurers have been ordered by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to inform the policyholders via text messages on the receiving of the premium amount to be paid by the policyholders with effect from January 1, 2019.

The Insurance sector regulator said that the step was taken to enhance the policyholder's protection and information. This came after a lot of complaints were generated where the insured did not receive the confirmation receipt due to some technical glitch.

After the latest directives by Irdia, wherever the policyholder's mobile number will be available in the policy records, the receipt of premium by the insurer under a policy shall be immediately informed to the concerned policyholder on his mobile phone number by an automatic SMS generated by the system.

Another matter of concern will be the accuracy of the registered phone numbers. Irdai has said that in case of new contacts, it may be ensured that the correct mobile phone number is captured to ensure SMS is sent on receipt of premium by the insurer.

"All Insurers shall put in place systems and procedures to ensure the above intimation to policyholders. The above guidelines shall be effective from 1st January 2019," Irdai said. As of now, there are two ways with which the receipt-payment procedure is being conducted on - to physically go to a place, pay the premium and get a hard copy of the receipt, on the spot or via an online transaction, where you could get an automated online generated copy of the receipt on the registered email ID. 

But, to make it more convenient and hassle-free for the customers, the government has come up with this idea of sending the receipt via a text message on the registered online number.