Rural Postal Life Insurance

Rural Postal Life Insurance (RPLI) was implemented after the recommendations of the Malhotra Committee, which is the Official Committee for Reforms in the Insurance Sector. The insurance scheme came into being from 24.03.1995 after the Government decided to expand the Postal Life Insurance to cover the rural areas by using the post office infrastructure. In this article, we look at the various aspects of the rural postal life insurance scheme in detail.

Objectives of Rural Postal Life Insurance

The objectives of the Rural Postal Life Insurance scheme are:

To provide insurance to the rural community.
To help the lower class people and women workers of the rural community.
To spread awareness about this scheme among the rural population.

Insurance Plans

Rural Postal Life Insurance provides the following insurance plans:

Whole Life Assurance
Convertible Whole Life Assurance
Endowment Assurance
Anticipated Endowment Assurance
10 Year RPLI
Children Policy

Whole Life Insurance

In case of the death of the policyholder, the policy pays the nominee a sum which is equivalent to the guaranteed amount in addition to the bonus. The age criteria for this policy is from 19 years to 55 years. The allocated funds range between Rs.10,000 to Rs.5 lakhs. There is also a loan option for this which can be claimed after 4 years.

Convertible Whole Life Assurance

In case of the death of the policyholder, the policy pays the nominee a sum that is equivalent to the guaranteed amount in addition to the bonus. The age criteria for this policy is from 19 years to 55 years. The allocated funds range between Rs.10,000 to Rs.5 lakhs. After 4 years, the policyholder can claim for a loan. The surrender policy can be availed after 3 years, and there is a bonus amount if it is nullified.

Endowment Assurance

In case of death of the policyholder, the policy provides a sum which is inclusive of the bonuses provided to the nominee, assignee or heir until he or she attains the age of maturity. The age criteria for this policy is from 19 years to 55 years. The allocated funds range between Rs.10,000 to Rs.5 lakhs. After 4 years, the policyholder can claim for a loan. The surrender policy can be availed after 3 years, and there is a bonus amount if it is nullified before 5 years.

Anticipated Endowment Assurance

This policy provides benefits to the policyholder periodically. The nominee will receive the actual amount and the bonus. This happens if the policyholder dies. The age criteria for this policy is from 19 years to 55 years. The allocated funds range between Rs.10,000 to Rs.5 lakhs. The surrender policy can be availed after 3 years, and there is a bonus amount if it is nullified before 5 years. Gram Priya The policy provides benefits to the policyholder or his or her nominee after completing the policy term. The total sum amount will be the guaranteed sum with an addition of the bonus. The age criteria for this policy is from 19 years to 45 years. The allocated funds range between Rs.10,000 to Rs.5 lakhs. The surrender policy can be availed after 3 years, and there is a bonus amount if it is nullified before 5 years.

Children Policy(10-year RPLI)

The policy provides insurance for two children in the family. The parent receives the policy if they have a Postal Life Insurance. The age criteria of the children should be from 5 years to 20 years and the age of the parent should be below 45 years. The total sum amount is up to Rs. 3 lakh, including the maturity benefits and bonus. There is no loan that is applicable to this policy.

Rural Postal Life Insurance Benefits

The following are the benefits of the RPLI policyholder.

The policyholder can change the nominee whenever required.
If the policy has completed 3 years for Endowment Assurance and 4 years for Whole Life Assurance, the insurant can apply for a loan by requesting his/her policy Heads who acts on behalf of the President of India.
Any financial institution can avail loan through this policy.
Policy lapses after 6 unpaid premia if it is continued in force for less than 3 years. The policy lapses after 12 unpaid premia if it is continued in force for more than 3 years. If there are any issues related to this, it can be cleared and renewed.
If the original Policy Bond is lost, burnt or torn, a duplicate Policy Bond is issued.
The policyholder can change the policy of the insurance from Whole Life Assurance to Endowment Assurance and from Endowment Assurance to other Endowment Assurance according to the rules.