What is Bima Sugam, the new portal hailed as a ‘UPI moment’ for insurance sector?

tech.hindustantimes.com:

When the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) was officially launched by RBI in 2016, it became a pivotal moment in the digital finance sector. It brought the unbanked sector of the population under the banking umbrella and allowed them an option to digitally transact and not lean heavily on physical currency. Now, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has proposed a new platform called Bima Sugam, which it claims will bring about the same revolution UPI did, and will spark a revolution in the insurance sector with its own ‘UPI moment'. Let us take a look.

“The recent initiative by IRDAI Bima Sugam is perceived to be a big game changer in the general insurance market development. It is a revolutionary step with ambitions of becoming the largest online market for insurance products and services which has not been practiced anywhere in the world,” said Sanjiv Singh, Head, Marine & Specialty lines, General Insurance Council in a press release.

“Going by the diversity and the size of India's population it may prove to be quite successful and a model for other developing economies. It will facilitate convergence of all stakeholders and insurance services in a single place,” he added.

Bima Sugam is proposed to be an online marketplace for insurance services. It is a one-stop digital platform, akin to Amazon, and it will offer a multitude of services including purchasing all kinds of insurance (life, health, and general including home and motor) from different insurance companies, managing policies, portability, changing agents, claim settlement, and more.

All of it will be done through a single portal and in a paperless and digital format. Insurance aggregators, especially those who function online, will