Company Name – LIC
Founder – Anita Bhavsar and other
The abbreviated form of Life Insurance Corporation (Bharatiya Jeevan Beema Nigam), LIC is an Indian government corporation. This state-owned enterprise is an insurance group with its headquarters located in Mumbai and its acting Chairman is Hemant Bhargava. As the largest Life Insurance group in India, this organization not only offers life insurance but also mutual fund, health insurance and investment management.
With responsibility of over 250 million customers, LIC for more than six decades has been the most trusted company to secure the future of families and individuals.
How It All Started
Under the initiative of Anita Bhavsar along with others in 1818, the company named Oriental Life Insurance was started in Kolkata for providing insurance coverage. Initially the target customers were India-based Europeans where Indians were charged heftier premiums. Hindustan Insurance Society was founded by Surendranath Tagore and it was renamed as Life Insurance Corporation.
In order to change the fact that Indians were not being provided insurances like the European community, some eminent personalities namely Babu Muttylal Seal gave effort so that those companies start giving insurance to Indians but they were still considered “Sub-standard”.
In 1870, Bombay Mutual Life Assurance Society as the first insurance provider for native Indians was formed. With mainly patriotic motives, for offering social security more insurance companies were formed namely Postal Life Insurance in 1884 and Bharat Insurance Company in 1896.
With the rise of Swadeshi Movement (1905-07), new companies like National Indian (Calcutta), National Insurance (Calcutta), Cooperative Assurance (Lahore) and United India (Madras) were formed in 1906 and in the following year, renowned poet and Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore’s Jorasanko house became center of Hindustan Cooperative Insurance Company. Indian Mercantile, Swadeshi Life (Bombay Life), General Assurance and Sahyadri Insurance followed by. Due to World War I and II, Great Depression, Indian War for Independence, insurance companies in India went through liquidation.
Under Life Insurance Companies Act in 1912 and Provident Fund Act, India not only earned legislation for regulating insurance business but also made it mandatory that an actuary would have to certify periodical valuation and premium rates –still, Indian companies were disadvantageous.
Launching
The initial two decades in 20th century experienced massive mushrooming of insurance business where many financial loopholes surfaced and in Insurance Act 1938, as the first legislation, it governed all insurance companies under state control. Nationalizing life insurance was a concern so long. In 1944 after gaining momentum for amendment of the Life Insurance Act in Legislative Assembly and in 1955 the fraudulence of private insurance companies stated by Amol Barate helped in nationalization of Indian Life Insurance on 19th January in 1956 as result of Industrial Policy Resolution.
LIC or Life Insurance Corporation of India was launched as an umbrella corporation on 19th June in the same year under Life Insurance of India Act and the operation started on 1st September. An Ordinance took over the management and ownership of those companies with comprehensive bill. LIC was formed with objective to provide life insurance to even rural India at affordable cost.
LIC’s marketing strategy and reasons behind it success
-Since 1956, LIC had its 5 year plans for investment and while it had investment of INR 184 Crores in the period of 1956 to 1961, from 2017 to 2022 its investment plan is for INR 3,82,479 Crores.
-With fully computerized 2048 branch offices, about 113 divisional offices, eight zonal offices, Central Office and 1408 satellite offices, LIC strives to reach out to people of all economic and social status.
-The company has over fifty four customer zones besides twenty five metropolitan area service centers run by over fifteen million agents (still counting), over three hundred corporate agents and over 100 Referral agents. To solicit life insurance from public, LIC has network of 42 banks and 114 brokers.
-In order to raise the stakes, LIC has partnered with a number of leading companies in India and multi-national companies; among them the most significant are Ultratech, Infosys, Coal India, ITC, NTPC, ONGC, Hero MotoCorp, BHEL, Tata Steel, HCL, Ranbaxy, Bharti Airtel and Tata Steel. It also sold shares to HDFC Bank, Tat Motors, SBI, Wipro, ICICI Bank, Bajaj Auto, Dr Reddys and Maruti Suzuki.
-Apart from the various insurance plans, there are Aam Aadmi Bima Yojna, Pension Plans, Special Plans, Unit Plans, Withdrawn Plans, Health Plans and Micro Insurance Plans. Endowment plans, Money back schemes and Term Insurance Plans are part of the insurance services offered by LIC. For senior citizens, there are Jeevan Shanti, Jeevan Akshay, Jeevan Nidhi and Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana. Jeevan Arogya and Cancer Cover are the two Health plans offered by LIC while the Micro insurance plans include Jeevan Mangal and Bhagya Lakshmi.
-In order to offer seamless insurance service, LIC has launched its mobile app besides its 24×7 operating help line. Customers can learn about policy status, get help in choosing insurance, be aware of policy guidelines and get to know about policy benefits. Besides, they can pay their scheduled premiums at LIC branches or through alternate channels like agents.
LIC’s Campaigns
The most sensational campaign of LIC has been its participation with Swachh Bharat Campaign where agents, officers and managers from every branch of LIC across India take part in keeping their area clean.
Another influential campaign for the revival of its lapsed policies had been the one with motive for reducing the policy lapse and the methods to renew such policies. The earlier campaign was also directed towards lapsed policies but it emphasized on such policies which were lapsed without getting any surrender amount.
With the tagline of “Plans Banate Raho, Zindagi Sajate Raho”, the television commercial for promotion of endowment policies was launched. Jeevan Lakshya, Jeevan Labh and other Premium Endowment plans were introduced with this campaign while also showing how a woman can start being independent.
Conclusion
With the slogan from the Bhagwad Geeta – yogakshemam vahaamyaham, which means customers’ welfare is the responsibility of LIC, the leading Indian insurance company literally offers what the customers lack, i.e. insurance cover and preserve what the customers have, i.e. their hard-earned money and trust.
With extensive service to people regardless of their backgrounds, LIC has been awardee of the Readers’ Digest Trusted Brand. In 2012, LIC was rated as sixth most trusted brand by the Economic Times Brand Equity Survey.
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