Going to buy an insurance policy for your vehicle, you may face problem if you do not have a valid PUC certificate as the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDAI) has issued new directions to insurers making PUC certificate mandatory for renewal of insurance.
The directions are based on the Supreme Court’s judgment, directing the insurers to not renew motor insurance without a valid PUC certificate as it is mandatory as per the Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989. Following the court order IRDAI has now issued a statement asking insurers to comply with the orders.
But according to the insurance experts this directive could mean denying vehicle insurance to policyholders which too is against the rules. They are of the view that if the insurers are mandated to renew motor insurance only if a valid PUC certificate is produced, they will have to deny third-party cover to those not having it which is a violation of the Insurance Act. Also, the additional requirement of PUC document may make it difficult to renew motor insurance online.
“Asking for PUC document takes away from making the insurance buying process seamless, something that online tech-enabled platforms like ours have enabled. Currently, we simply take vehicle details which can be obtained from the previous insurance copy or the vehicle registration certificate (RC) to renew the policy. Adding the requirement of a PUC certificate will make the process more manual and there is no way of validating the PUC,” said Balachander Sekhar, the co-founder and chief executive officer of an online insurance broking firm RenewBuy.com.
“We anticipate significant challenges given the low levels of PUC outside top 7-8 cities. More so for two-wheelers where more than 75% are uninsured and may hinder in bringing them into the insurance fold,” said Sekhar.
Also, the experts said the motor insurance is not limited to third-party cover. It also comprises own damage cover that insures the vehicle against theft or damage, and personal accident cover for the driver and passengers. They however suggested that there is a need to make some amendments to enable the people to get online verification of PUC as most of the people now buy the insurance policy online.