A seminar on “Life Insurance” was organised by M/s
Consumer Guidance Society on August 26, 2012 at Vijayawada, Andhra
Pradesh.There were around 100
participants representing local consumer bodies operating in coastal areas, RTI
activists and lawyers from the various Districts and States, with
rural/semi-urban background.
Mr AML Narasimha Rao, President,
District Consumer Forum has inaugurated the seminar and was the chief Guest for
the occasion. He advised the public at large to be truthful, candid and honest
in filling proposal forms.
Mrs KGPL Rama Devi, Deputy Director and
Mr DVS Ramesh, Deputy Director of IRDA attended the seminar and gave
presentations on “ “Policyholders’ Protection and Education” and “Life
Insurance –practices and procedures”respectively. The
importance of insurance education to the buyer, as a part of Caveat Emptor to
prevent mis-selling was also stressed upon by the IRDA speakers. Mr M VSyam Sundar, Secretary, Corporate Frauds Watch, Vijayawadaand Professor Rajasekhar Mouly made
presentations on the topic “Addressing issues relating to unfair trade practices,
mis-selling and deficiencylife
insurance policies” . Mr Syam Sundar, cautioned the people to subscribe a unit
linked policy only after thoroughly knowing the risks involved in it.Dr. Diwakar Babu, Secretary, Consumer
Guidance Society and Advocate spoke on Consumer Rights in Consumer Protection
Act , Grievance Redressal Mechanism and other formal remedies available to the
aggrieved policyholders and their nominees.
The
participants are well acquainted with information on consumer rights and there
was a unanimous opinion expressed by most of the participants that IRDA should
play a more proactive role in safeguarding the interests of the policyholders
and curb unfair trade practices in the insurance sector.