Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Thursday, Jun 12, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Thursday, Jun 12, 2003 |
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Info-Tech
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Telecommunications Insurance cover for cell phone subscribers — BPL Mobile inks pact with Bajaj Allianz Our Bureau
PUNE, June 11 MOBILE phone service provider, BPL Mobile, has announced a tie-up with insurance firm, Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co, to offer special packages on handset and personal accident insurance cover for subscribers across Maharashtra and Goa. The service would be extended to the subscribers across other circles of Mumbai, Kerala and Tamil Nadu in the next couple of months, the company said. The new service is part of the company's Customer Asset Management initiative and will help secure mobile phone against theft, damage or loss, Mr Deepak Varma, Vice-President & COO Customer Asset Management, said pointing out that almost 20 per cent of mobile phone subscribers lose their handsets due to these reasons. In Mumbai for instance, almost four hundred phones are reported lost every month while in smaller circles the number is between 30-40 every month. The company's new service provides three options to subscribers including personal accident insurance of Rs 1 lakh in case of death only and handset insurance up to Rs 10,000 for an annual premium of Rs 200 and another scheme which offers the same along with hospital cash for 15 days at the rate of Rs 500 per day for a premium of Rs 600. Talking to reporters on the occasion, Mr Kamlesh Goyal, COO, Bajaj Allianz, said that for the company this tie-up with BPL Mobile was yet another way of increasing customer awareness of the benefits of insurance and said that the scheme would help the company tap a new segment of low premium insurance products directly through BPL galleries. "Agents are hesitant about spending time and effort on low value products so this is a new way to access new customers,'' he said. The company expects to insure at least 20,000 of BPL Mobile's 2 lakh customers in the circle in the first year of operations, he said. The new service is also expected to dampen the flourishing market for stolen mobile phones in the country since the insurance company will put the identity number of the phone on its insurance certificate thus allowing them to disenable it as soon as it is reported lost. "Since a stolen phone cannot be used on any network in the world, this service will indirectly help subscribers and mobile phone companies who are faced with the problem of stolen phones which are misused," he added. Meanwhile, BPL Mobile is in the middle of a major restructuring in its management and operations with the company deciding to adopt a more centralised style of management which would depend on dedicated teams across various circles to pool their expertise in various segments of operations like customer asset management and acquisition, revenue, network and IT among others according to Mr Varma. The effort, started off a couple of months ago will be complete in the next six months and will increase performance and efficacy while effecting considerable cost savings by eliminating duplication of work, he said.
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