Postal Life Insurance is a life insurance scheme which was established 125 years ago by theIndian postal service. The first policies were introduced in 1884 and benefited only staff members belonging to the Department of Post office and Telegraph. Today, extended to all public sector employees and those of the state owned companies, they provide one of the best investment options for low-income population.
In 1995, DPT launched a new product, “Rural Postal Life Insurance”, designed for inhabitants of rural areas who account for 60% of the Indian population. This insurance policy provides a return of approximately 7% whereas that ofequivalent products distributed by state insurer LIC ranges between 3% and 4.8% over the recent five years.Moreover, this scheme benefits from the same fiscal benefits enjoyed by all other life insurance policies and the premium is payable at any post office.