‘Disposal of plaints for Kolkata centre at 99.06%’

Kolkata: Bima Lokpal Day is celebrated every year on November 11 to mark the foundation day of the Institution of ‘Insurance Ombudsman’. In 1998 on this day, the Government of India notified the ‘Redressal of Public Grievances Rules’.

Insurance Ombudsman is a quasi-judicial grievance redressal machinery to redress complaints of insured persons against life, non-life and standalone health insurance companies and brokers. The main objective is for resolution of insurance related complaints in a cost effective, efficient and impartial manner.

As per the Insurance Ombudsman Rules, 2017, as amended till date, the Executive Council of Insurers (ECOI) (formerly Governing Body of Insurance Council (GBIC)) has been renamed Ombudsmen (CIO). As on date, there are 17 offices of insurance Ombudsman across the country, viz., Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Delhi, Ernakulam, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Chandigarh, Chennai, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Lucknow, Mumbai, Noida, Patna, Pune and Guwahati, The Kolkata centre caters to the insured public of the states of Bengal, Sikkim and the union territories of Andaman and Nicobar islands.

The total number of entertainable complaints received by the Kolkata centre for the year 2023-24 was 3,644 out of which 3,610 complaints have been disposed off.

Thus, the disposal of complaints for the centre is 99.06 per cent. Out of the 3,610 complaints, 1530 (42.38 per cent) complaints were disposed off through mediation between the complainants and the insurance companies.

Online registration of complaints has also been introduced since February 2021, whereby the complainant can register his complaint anytime, from anywhere and need not visit the office of Insurance Ombudsman. Keeping the convenience of the complainants in mind, even the hearing proceedings are being conducted online through video conferencing.