CHENNAI: With a small number of passengers of the two ill-fated trains involved in the June 2 Odisha tragedy, it seems they have opted for an insurance cover of Rs 10 lakh by paying just Rs 035 and now it’s time for the Center to bundle up. Has come covered with all tickets booked through the online portal of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC), said insurance professionals.
As per initial indications, only a handful of passengers of the two passenger trains have opted for travel accident insurance cover while booking through the IRCTC portal.
Responding to a list of queries sent to SBI General Insurance Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Kishore Kumar Poludasu, a company spokesperson told IANS: “As per the data available, SBI General has covered 351 passengers. ”
According to an official of SBI General Insurance, passengers of both the trains have lodged some injury claims with the company.
On the other hand, Rupam Asthana, whole-time director and CEO of Liberty General Insurance, did not respond to queries sent by IANS.
In that tragic accident, 288 passengers had died and more than 1,000 people were injured.
IRCTC has selected SBI General Insurance and Liberty General Insurance to offer travel accident insurance cover.
People reserving tickets through the IRCTC booking portal can opt for accidental insurance of Rs 10 lakh by paying a nominal premium of 0.35 paise.
The policy covers death/disability/medical expenses due to train accident during the journey.
Both the companies declined to answer how the number of policies is divided between the two insurance companies while booking tickets.
Similarly, top executives of both the companies remained mum when asked about covering all passengers, which would reduce the premium amount.
An industry official said that the two insurance companies get an equal number of policies while passengers book their tickets through the IRCTC portal. However, the number of passengers covered under the policy/ticket will vary.
“Even if they want an insurance cover, many passengers will not be inclined to click on the insurance cover box while booking Tatkal train tickets on the IRCTC portal as their main objective is to reserve a ticket as every second counts during that time.” Keeps it.” said the insurance officer.
Also, if travel insurance cover is offered to all train passengers, the premium amount will further reduce by 35 paise.
According to IRCTC’s regulatory filing of investor call transcript, a total of 10.44 crore tickets have been booked during the last quarter of FY2023 and 14.54 crore passengers have booked on these tickets.
For the entire FY23, IRCTC had generated a revenue of Rs 802 crore from internet ticketing service.
The company said that a total of 43 crore tickets were booked on the IRCTC portal.
And in the last quarter of FY23, the convenience fee that IRCTC earned was around Rs 197 crore.
When the insurance scheme was launched in 2016, the premium was 0.92 paise per passenger with Shriram General Insurance Company Limited, ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited and Royal Sundaram General Insurance Company Limited being the insurers.