A meeting was held at Hyatt Regency, Trivandrum on 15.11.2023. It was arranged by the Kerala Government under the leadership of the Kerala Transport Minister, Mr. Anthony Raju and the Kerala Transport Commissioner, Mr.S.Sreejith .

The insurance industry was well represented by 25 insurers both private as well as public sector insurance companies like Magma HDI, Go Digit, ICICI Lombard, Reliance General Insurance, IFFCO TOKIO, TATA AIG, HDFC ERGO, National insurance Company Ltd, New India Assurance Company Ltd, Oriental Insurance Company Ltd, etc. GI Council was represented by the Secretary General, Mr. Inderjeet Singh along with one IT official and one consultant at the meeting.

In the meeting, the Transport Commissioner stressed upon the use of challan statistics. The Kerala Government is of the view that GI Council and IIB can collaborate and incorporate challan statistics to rate the vehicles for insurance purposes. The Kerala Government feels that AI camera can be sponsored by insurers as decrease in number of motor accidents will reduce motor claims which will benefit the insurers.

After the installation of cameras, the Kerela Government is keen on employing drones to capture motor accidents and the expectation is that the insurers can sponsor drones in addition to cameras. Any damage suffered by the cameras and drones due to the motor vehicles should be paid by the insurer as it is Third Party Property Damage (TPPD) as suggested by the Transport Commissioner.

Kerala Government proposed that a committee should be formed under the leadership of the Chairman, Magma HDI, General Insurance Company, Mr. Rajive Kumaraswamy to periodically deliberate on the aforesaid issues like challans, vehicle ratings, and give inputs to bring about radical changes    increasing road safety which in turn will benefit insurers as the claims outgo will reduce.  

The Transport Ministry, Government of Kerala is of the view that   the registration of vehicles involved in serious offences should be cancelled and the insurers should refuse to give insurance cover to such vehicles.GI Council and the insurers have opined that this is a difficult proposition to implement as insurance can only be denied to vehicle if it is not roadworthy. Insurance of motor vehicles is mandatory as per the law. 

The meeting is a starting point for close collaboration between the government and the insurers. Such meetings and discussions will benefit the economy as a whole and lead to a prosperous nation.