 "Over 36 lakh agents terminated in 4 years: Life Council secretary")
The life insurance industry has seen a net reduction of 7-8 lakh agents in the last four years, said V Manickam, secretary general of Life Insurance Council. This, said Manickam, is due to the fact that there are over 35 lakh agents who have been terminated from service as against an addition of over 26 lakh in the last four years.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event organised by Asia Insurance Post, Manickam said that companies need to augment their agency force with 15-20% growth every year in number of agents. "It is also needed that agents need handholding for atleast the initial three to five years," said Manickam.
To increase number of agents in the industry, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority has reduced the pass percentage in agent recruitment examination from 50% to 35%.
The Life Insurance Council, among other initiatives, is planning a project to bring out a Customer Satisfaction Index to gauge customer feedback related to insurance policy and service areas. The council is looking to bring out this index with the help of an external agency in the next six months.