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- Change of policies: they want to sell CTP for taxis and motorcycles on "State services"
Change of policies: they want to sell CTP for taxis and motorcycles on "State services"
In Russia, they want to launch the sale of CTP for taxis and motorcycles through Gosuslugi. Izvestia has a ready-made bill. This will ensure continuity in the conclusion of contracts, the Central Bank said. However, the market opposed it — its representatives sent a letter to the State Duma and explained why this was contrary to the laws and competition. Insurers want to be completely excluded from the policy registration process. In addition, the problems with the availability of CTP have already been solved by the reinsurance pool and short contracts, insurers are confident. How the new system can work and whether it will "capture" the market is described in the Izvestia article.
Why should OSAGO be sold on "State Services"
In Russia, they want to expand the functionality of Gosuslug and launch the sale of CTP for taxi drivers and motorcyclists there. It is assumed that they will be able to buy an annual policy through the state portal at any insurance company of their choice.
Insurers will actually be excluded from registration. The company will not assess the risks and calculate an individual price. The National Insurance Information System (NSIS), which stores data on all CTP policies, will actually verify the information and conclude the contract. The company is a 100% subsidiary of the Bank of Russia.
The conditions of such insurance will be the same: the term is one year and one base rate is at the upper limit of the tariff corridor, the press service of the Central Bank clarified. To receive a discount, the client will have to buy a policy according to the old scheme — through agents or companies, the explanatory note says. In addition, when concluding a contract in a new way, the customer will not have the opportunity to choose a service station for repairs.
It is assumed that the initiative should increase the accessibility of compulsory motor citizenship for taxi drivers and motorcyclists. The document clarifies: now they sometimes face difficulties when registering CTP, because they belong to the risky segment. This is due to the fact that the same taxi drivers use cars more often, which means they get into accidents.
The introduction of a mechanism for certain categories of customers in Public Services will ensure the uninterrupted conclusion of a CTP contract, the press service of the Central Bank told Izvestia.
The initiative of the bill belongs to the Ministry of Finance, said the head of the NSIS Nikolai Galushin. However, it will probably be submitted to the State Duma by a group of deputies, a source in the insurance market told Izvestia. The editorial board sent a request to the Ministry of Finance.
Why CTP on "Public Services" can create a monopoly
The market opposed the initiative. The Russian Union of Motor Insurers (RSA) has sent a letter to Anatoly Aksakov, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Market. The RSA emphasized that according to the document, contracts through Gosuslugi will be concluded without the participation of insurers at all. They will be replaced by the NSIS, which does not have a license to sell policies. In addition, the contract is now considered concluded only when the two parties have reached an agreement. And under the new scheme, insurance companies will not be able to assess risks and set prices themselves within the boundaries of the Central Bank's corridor (which is now provided for by law).
The bill contradicts the laws of the Russian Federation, the letter says. Firstly, it would violate the principles of competition and freedom of economic activity. The document actually proposes to endow Gosuslugi with marketplace functions. And since the system is controlled by the state, this will lead to monopolization and nationalization of the CTP market. The union also stressed that there are no problems with the availability of such policies now.
— Now there are no objective prerequisites for the organization of an additional sales channel of policies: There are no complaints about refusals to conclude contracts, there are various mechanisms on the market to ensure the availability of CTP, which have proven themselves well, the RSA told Izvestia.
To increase the availability of CTP, a reinsurance pool has been operating since April 2022 for highly profitable segments (including passenger taxis and motorcycles). It allows insurers to evenly redistribute the costs of risky contracts among themselves. In addition, starting in March 2024, a customer can buy a short-term CTP for a period of one day to three months.
This has significantly increased both the availability and sales volume of insurance policies for taxi drivers, said Yuri Strekalov, Director of CTP Portfolio Management at Rosgosstrakh. Insurers independently set the price for short-term contracts, they have the opportunity to take into account the potential unprofitability of the client, rather than deny him the conclusion of the contract, the RSA added. At the same time, the contract becomes very inexpensive for the taxi driver in any case.
This really reduces the cost of insurance for them, said Nikolai Galushin from the NSIS. At the same time, more than 2 million motorcycles and about 800 thousand taxi cars are now registered in the country. At the same time, only 600 thousand cars that are used for transportation have insurance contracts (annual and short-term).
Are there any problems with the availability of CTP
The December expansion of the Central Bank's tariff corridor should also increase the availability of policies, Yuri Strekalov noted. The regulator increased it in both directions by 40%, and for taxis — by 15%. Due to all this, there are no problems with the availability of CTP for taxis and motorcycles now, he noted.
In addition, innovation can lead to another problem. Through Gosuslugi, the user can choose any insurer. And this creates the prerequisites for the fact that the risky segment of customers may concentrate on a single company, which will affect its unprofitability.
However, the Central Bank noted that the proposed initiative would not create additional pressure on businesses and would not lead to risks of disrupting their financial stability. Companies will be able to transfer contracts concluded through Gosuslugi to the reinsurance pool, the regulator's press service added. This will help mitigate the risks of high unprofitability, because the entire market pays for the costs of such contracts (commensurate with the size of each company).
There is another argument against this in the market: given the trust of citizens in Public Services and the popularity of the portal, it is possible to foresee the flow of a significant part of customers into the new channel. This will bring down the established competitive environment in the CTP market, the RSA emphasized.
The launch of new functionality at Gosuslugi will also require significant investments from the budget and the costs of insurers to maintain this sales channel.
The idea of using "Public Services" in the registration of CTP is being discussed, but it is too early to talk about any specific parameters or restrictions that may be included in the bill, said deputy Anatoly Aksakov.
Perhaps it would be more reasonable to make Gosuslugi a showcase where insurers present their offers based on individual risks, says Alexey Ivanov, owner of the Alliance Trucks commercial vehicle dealership network. In this case, the reinsurance pool would ensure that everyone gets a policy, and competition would lower prices.
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