Aaqib Husain

The Government of India launched the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PM-JAY) on 23 rd September 2018 with the goal to provide free-of-cost health insurance coverage to poor and marginalized families in India. It covers about 40% of India's population, making it the world's largest national public health insurance scheme in terms of the number of beneficiaries. Coverage of Rs. 5 lakhs per family per year is provided under this scheme to poor and vulnerable families for secondary and tertiary care expenses of hospitalization. The beneficiaries are selected on the basis of the SocioEconomic Caste Census (SECC) 2011 database. In the present competitive market, service quality is vital for the survival of firms working in the service sector. In the health insurance sector, since all the insurers offer similar services, their service quality plays a crucial role in having a competitive edge. Hence, it is important for insurers to have proper knowledge of the service quality dimensions in the health insurance sector. Under PM-JAY, the poor and marginalized families are provided with cashless and free health insurance coverage with the help of

Despite the significant growth of the insurance sector in India in the past few decades, the insurance penetration in India is quite low compared to the world average. The presence of a large poor and unprivileged population is one of the main reasons for the low penetration and density of insurance in India. Thus, with the aim to provide insurance coverage to poor and unprivileged population, two social security schemes, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) and Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Bima Yojana (PMSBY), were launched by the Government of India in May 2015. These schemes provide insurance coverage against the risk of disability and death. The objective of this study is to discuss the features of these social security schemes and assess their progress at present. The study is descriptive in nature and is based on secondary data collected from government publications and websites, journals, articles, etc. The study revealed that both PMJJBY and PMSBY have made significant progress since their launch. As on 29th June 2022, Uttar Pradesh has registered the highest number of enrolments under both schemes. The number and amount of claims paid under PMJJBY were highest in Uttar Pradesh, on the other hand, the number and amount of claims paid under PMSBY were highest in Maharashtra. Though these schemes have made significant progress till now, there is still scope forgrowth for these schemes as a large portion of the population is still uninsured.

With the liberalisation and introduction of reforms in the financial services sector in the past few decades and the advent of digital technology, the life insurance sector has become extremely competitive. To survive in this competitive market, companies have directed their policies and strategies towards customer satisfaction which can be achieved by improving service quality. In many earlier studies in different sectors, it has been found that service quality is the driver and one of the most significant determinants of customer satisfaction. This study aims to develop a reliable and valid scale for measuring service quality in the life insurance sector as perceived by the policyholders and the overall service quality of the life insurance sector. An empirical research design has been used for the study. The data has been collected using an online questionnaire from life insurance policyholders. The questionnaire is based on the SERVPERF scale modified for the life insurance sector. Descriptive statistics, Cronbach alpha for reliability analysis and exploratory factor analysis using principal component analysis with varimax rotation including KMO and Bartlett's test have been used for analysis. As a result of this study, a reliable four-dimensional scale has been developed for the measurement of service quality of the life insurance sector as perceived by the policyholders. consisting of dimensions Assurance & Tangibles, Convenience, Competence and Technology & Innovation. The performance scores have revealed that there is room for improvement in every aspect of service quality of life insurance companies.