The proposed Insurance Laws (Amendment) Bill 2008 will be detrimental to the interests of agents, according to Life Insurance Agents Federation of India (LIAFI).

“We have staged peaceful demonstrations all over the country and are working on an action plan to intensify the agitation,” SB Sreenivasachary, president of LIAFI told BusinessLine in an interaction here on Monday.

LIC agents had staged demonstrations at branches in Delhi, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Jammu & Kashmir, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore, he added.

LIAFI has over 11.78 lakh agents as its members, accounting for more than half of the total life insurance agents in the country.

There are about nine lakh agents working for private life insurers. The agents claim that some of the provisions in the Amendment Bill are detrimental to their interests.

“If implemented in totality, the persistency of the policies and an agent’s career would get adversely impacted. They will lose the statutory protection accorded to them by the Insurance Act, 1938,” Chary said.

For example, Section 40 of the existing Act deals with the limits on commission payable to the agents on the first year and renewal premium procured. “But the Amendment Bill has no specific substitute section on commission limits,” he said

Further, the amendment proposes to do away with prohibition of cessation of payments of commissions for agents.

“Removal of this section will cause irreparable damage to the family of the deceased agent as there are no terminal benefits for insurance agents,” the functionary said.

The association had also staged major protests last year against the Bill in Delhi and other big centres. “Incidentally, it was the then BJP chief and present Home Minister Rajnath Singh who pledged his support to us,” said Chary.

Now, it remains to be seen how the Government reacts to the demands of the agents.

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