PSU general insurers revitalize biz

Chennai: With their premium income and solvency going southwards apart from suffering underwriting losses, government-owned general insurers have rolled out an incentive scheme for their administrative staff to carry out marketing activity.

The Business Development Incentive Scheme (BDIS) is an effort to bring in profitable retail business and also make the 'fixed cost' administrative staff more productive. However, the unions representing the employees and the agents are opposed to the scheme.

"It is an irony. The new scheme is being launched at a time when many of the one-man offices are being closed and those who are bringing in business running into lakhs of rupees are asked to do administrative work," an employee of one of the government insurers told IANS.

A senior industry official preferring anonymity told IANS: "The insurers should work out such schemes in a holistic manner than in an isolated way, taking the overall picture in view."

While agreeing with the view that `fixed cost' employees are being made productive, he said: "This will not give the desired result. The companies should have only three structural layers - Head Office, Regional Offices and Operational Offices - close/merge branches/divisional offices."

Such a measure would reduce the company's management expenses drastically.