Stakeholders have emphasized that the government should increase the tax exemption limit on insurance premiums, increase awareness about insurance, and start insurance of government property through the upcoming budget. They said that although the insurance business has increased in recent years, actual insurance access has not reached the target groups and areas, tax exemption and government property insurance should be started along with increasing awareness. The speaker of the 'Kantipur Budget Debate' said that the government should bring priority programs for the development and expansion of the insurance sector. 

The last decade has been a 'golden period' for the development and expansion of the insurance sector, says Citizens Life Insurance Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Pochiraj Poudel. 'It is not that insurance has not expanded, it has been sufficient. No other country in South Asia has seen the speed of insurance expansion as fast as in Nepal,' he said. 'However, it is true that many sections of society have not been covered by insurance as expected.' Poudel said that the regulatory body, insurance companies, and stakeholders are jointly working to expand insurance access. 

Poudel says that although the insurance sector has done good work for the society and economy, it has not been publicized enough. ‘Insured persons who died while working abroad have easily received claim payments as per the law,’ he said. ‘These days, there is no complaint of not receiving insurance payments. But we have not been able to publicize it.’ Poudel said that like other sectors, there are some negative issues in insurance too. ‘Although the current insurance penetration has reached about 50 percent, it is not a situation to be satisfied with that. A lot of work needs to be done in this,’ he said.  IME Life Insurance CEO Pawan Khadka said that the government can invest the amount collected by life insurance companies in the infrastructure sector. ‘Infrastructure development is also one of the 5 main areas specified in the policy and program brought by the government. The money we currently have can also be used for investment out of the capital required for the construction of necessary infrastructure under the integrated development that the government has said,’ he said. ‘As per the directives of the Insurance Authority, there is a provision that life insurance companies can invest 10 percent of their funds in infrastructure. Even if that is used, about 1 trillion rupees can be raised for infrastructure.' 

Khadka says that citizens also have the objective of saving in life insurance along with life insurance. Insurance companies can help invest in infrastructure by purchasing instruments such as bonds and project bonds issued by the government. The general public has also purchased insurance policies with the money they sell goats. There is a possibility of withdrawing money kept in the bank, but since the investment in insurance is not expected to be withdrawn for at least three years, the fund will be sustainable, Khadka said. 

'Currently, the government has been providing tax exemption on insurance premiums up to Rs 40,000. If this limit is increased to Rs 100,000 or more through the upcoming budget, there is a possibility of increasing the investable amount,' he said.  Like other sectors, Khadka said that the insurance sector is also not immune to distortions. He says that although there are some distortions, work is being done to normalize them. He said that currently, out of about 50 percent of insurance access, 14 percent is foreign employment insurance. ‘In the event of a death while working abroad in a difficult situation, you get 2.1 million rupees for insurance, of which 1.4 million is provided by the insurance company and 7 million by the government,’ said Khadka. 

This year, the non-life insurance business has increased by 14 percent, said Chunki Chhetri, CEO of Sagarmatha Lumbini Insurance and former president of the Nepal Insurance Association. ‘The more the economy develops, the more the non-life insurance business will grow. Business is better than last year,’ he said, ‘The first thing the government should do to expand the insurance business.’ Although the expansion of insurance access seems to be rapid, it has not reached many target groups and areas, including remote areas, he commented. ‘The government should bring special policies and programs to expand insurance access in remote areas. Because we have reached big and popular businesses. But we have not been able to reach rural areas.’ 

During the Gen-G movement of last Bhadra, property in the government and private sectors was damaged. The private sector received insurance payments because of insurance. But the state property has been damaged due to the lack of insurance for government property, Chhetri said. ‘We have repeatedly urged the government to insure government property. However, it is not being implemented,’ he said, ‘Now the government should understand the importance of insurance. Such incidents keep happening, the government should insure government property and vehicles, understanding this. Although the policy has been saying to insure government property for a long time, it has not been implemented. The government should implement it from next year.’