Government to introduce micro-insurance firms

The government is planning to introduce micro-insurance companies in the country soon to expand penetration of insurance services to the rural and deprived population as the draft of the Insurance Bill has provisioned licensing for micro-insurance companies. The concept of micro-insurance has not been developed institutionally in the country due to lack of a law to develop such institutions, even as there is a huge requirement of the service to protect the low-income group. The bill, which is in the drafting phase, has envisioned micro-insurance to address the country‘s specific need for making insurance service accessible to a larger number of the population. Currently, only 12 percent of the total population has benefited from insurance services, according to the Insurance Board.