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1. Introduction
Insurance is a very advantageous product since it plays a significant role in driving economic development (Ilyas and Rajasekaran, 2022). In India, insurance is considered a premium sector that has registered noticeable growth over the years (IBEF, 2022). In fact, insurance has been highlighted as a sunrise sector in India, with a lot of growth potential (Dutta, 2020). Several changes have been witnessed in the insurance sector in India at the regulatory level during the past two decades, such as deregulation, market liberalization and the establishment of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Ilyas and Rajasekaran, 2020). As a result of these developments, the insurance sector in India, comprising both life and nonlife insurance, has grown significantly in density and penetration. Yet, recent reports suggest that India's insurance penetration rate is relatively low compared to the global average (Statista Research Department, 2022). There are multiple reasons behind this relatively slow insurance growth in India, some of which are understood, and others need further examination.
A review of the available literature in the area reveals that scholars have examined the insurance sector in India to try and understand not only what drives its growth but also the nature of its operations and potential reasons behind its sluggishness. For example, Yadav and Sudhakar (2018) noted that income was a key determinant of demand for life insurance in India. With regard to operations, past studies observed that insurers still rely on an exclusive network of intermediaries to handle frontline interactions (e.g., Kaesler et al., 2020). It has also been observed that despite the development of several forms of distribution channels in the recent past, there is an issue of reach due to which the sector has not been able to realize its true potential. Taking note of this, recent studies have raised a call for enhancing the visibility of the sector (Chakraborty and Das, 2022).
Based on the preceding discussion, the present study observes that India needs to work extensively on under-penetration and inadequate insurance penetration in urban and rural geographies by increasing reach, access, and availability. Offering a potential solution, this study posits that increasing the volume of insurance through digital platforms might be an effective way of reaching India's vast and geographically dispersed...