Govt not to discontinue insurance agents commission

24 Nov 2009, 1455 hrs IST, PTI
NEW DELHI: The government is not considering doing away with the commission
for insurance agents, the Rajya Sabha was informed on Tuesday.
Minister of State for Finance Namo Narain Meena said "No" in a written reply to the
Rajya Sabha when asked whether the government is considering any proposal to
discontinue insurance agents' commission.
A government-appointed committee headed by D Swarup had proposed phased
elimination of upfront commission paid to insurance agents by April 2011 in its
discussion paper.
However, the committee has not yet submitted its report to the government.
The country's largest insurer, Life Insurance Corporation, had paid Rs 10,029.72
crore commission to agents in the last fiscal compared to Rs 9,552.68 crore in
2007-08.
In the financial year 2006-07, the agents' commission amounted to Rs 9,153.13
crore by LIC.
On the other hand, private insurers paid Rs 2,649.85 crore commission to agents in
the last fiscal compared to Rs 2,725.80 crore in 2007-08.
In 2006-07, the commission paid to agents stood at Rs 1,848.26 crore.