Kathmandu. As per the provisions of the Insurance Act, 2079 BS, the Nepal Insurance Authority (NEA) has established its provincial offices in six provinces other than Bagmati Province and have made remarkable progress in insurance regulation and awareness building.TAG_CLOSE_b_11
According to the annual report of the fiscal year 2081/82, due to the active participation of the provincial offices, there has been a lot of ease in the inspection, expansion of insurance in rural areas and hearing the grievances of the insured throughout the country.
In the fiscal year TAG_OPEN_p_17 2081/82, the provincial offices of the Authority have conducted extensive interaction with the local government, stakeholders and industry entrepreneurs, teachers, students and media persons. Gandaki and Lumbini Province have conducted 40 interaction programs each while Koshi and Sudurpaschim have conducted 35 interactions each, Karnali Province 33 and Madhesh Province 32.
In order to make insurance accessible to the villages, the provincial offices have continued to set up stalls in fairs and festivals, put up informational billboards and broadcast awareness messages and jingles from local radio and television.TAG_OPEN_p_16
In order to make the regulation of insurance companies TAG_OPEN_p_15 effective, the provincial offices themselves have intensified the on-site inspection work. In the review year, Koshi Province conducted on-site inspection of 30 insurance companies, 25 each in Lumbini and Karnali, 23 in Gandaki Province, 22 in Sudurpaschim and 21 in Madhesh Province. As a result, the insurance companies in mofussil have started to be held responsible, according to the authority.
In the past, the provincial offices have removed the compulsion of the insured to come to the central office with minor complaints. A total of 88 complaints were registered in Koshi Province including the remaining one of the last year, out of which 19 were reconciled through the provincial office. Likewise, the Sudurpaschim Province settled 25 out of 47 complaints registered while the Gandaki Province settled 20 out of 33 complaints at the local level. Lumbini has settled 15 out of 53 complaints while Karnali has also settled some complaints through mutual consent. Only the remaining complaints, which could not be resolved at the provincial level, have been sent to the central office for decision.
Provincial offices have also played an important role in conducting online agent examinations for the production of skilled manpower in the insurance market.TAG_OPEN_p_13 Gandaki is conducting 57 exams, Koshi 35, Sudurpaschim 31, Lumbini and Karnali 29 each and Madhesh Province 16. As many as 4,539 new life insurance agents have been appointed in Koshi Province and 4,091 in Sudurpaschim Province through this process.
This activism of the provincial offices has made Nepal’s insurance market more dignified, transparent, and reliable and has proved to be a milestone in bringing the people of far-flung areas into the mainstream of insurance, according to the NRA.TAG_OPEN_p_12
