You can’t buy and redeem policies through the eIA – this still needs to be done through the insurance company. Also, your eIA account may not reflect the real time values of your policies – unlike your demat account for equity shares.
Currently, the demat option is available only for life insurance policies. Other kinds of policies, such as health insurance, general insurance and annuities, are expected to go electronic later. Also, some insurers have not yet started converting and issuing policies in the electronic form.
Besides, insurance companies need not tie up with all insurance repositories. This could defeat the purpose of electronic insurance. Every policyholder is allowed only one electronic insurance account. So, you may have no choice but to hold physical policies of those insurance companies which have not tied up with your insurance repository.