Rel Life to hire 6,000 agents in rural areas

Anil Ambani Group firm Reliance Life on Thursday said it would induct 6,000 insurance agents this year as part of plans to expand its reach in rural markets.

Unlike the traditional model of paying commission to insurance agents on the basis of the business generated by them, the rural agents would be recruited under this new programme on a fixed income structure, the company said.

These agents would also be paid a stipend during their training and induction period, a top official told visiting Indian journalists in Hong Kong.

"We have understood that in smaller locations, the agents take a longer time to come up the learning curve. With this initiative, we will provide them the necessary encouragement and support to help them join and stay in the insurance field," Reliance Life Insurance Company president and executive director Malay Ghosh said.

This would be different from the current model, wherein the agent is on a pure commission structure, and a fixed component would also ensure that the agent would work full-time

and be more committed to this job, he added.

The company plans to recruit over 6,000 agents under this model during the year and the programme is being launched in 56 cities and 11 states and would be expanded further in phases, Ghosh said.

The new distribution model is aimed at increasing the company's penetration in rural markets.

As part of the programme, the company will insist on a minimum activity level initially, but as the agents become more experienced, the proportion of the fixed portion in their overall compensation will gradually reduce.

The company would target people in the age group of 21 to 35 years of age for hiring as agents and will give preference to women and married entrepreneurs.

Among others, Reliance Life will consider teachers, tutorial owners, nurses and compounders, cable operators, people associated with panchayats and other local bodies, broking agents of pharma distributors and agents of rural and cooperative banks as candidates for the job.