Regulations on online insurance provision in Vietnam

Regulations on online insurance provision in Vietnam (Internet image) 

Regarding this issue, LawNet would like to answer as follows:

On November 2, 2023, the Minister of Finance issued Circular 67/2023/TT-BTC) guiding a number of articles of the Law on Insurance Business, Decree 46/2023/ND-CP detailing implementation of some articles of the Law on Insurance Business.

Regulations on online insurance provision in Vietnam

Specifically, Article 4 of Circular 67/2023/TT-BTC) regulates the provision of insurance services and products in the online environment as follows:

(1) Insurers, branches of foreign non-life insurers, mutual microinsurers, insurance brokers, and insurance agents may provide full or partial insurance process through electronic means that connect with the Internet, mobile telecommunications networks, or other open networks through online channels.

(2) The full online insurance process, as outlined in Clause (1), encompasses implementation of all steps in online insurance process, including introduction, consultation, or provision of services; or consultation, introduction, offering of insurance products, verification of requested information, appraisal, confirmation of requests for entering into an insurance policy, arrangement of insurance policy conclusion, payment, and issuance of an insurance policy or insurance certificate.

(3) Insurers, branches of foreign non-life insurers, and mutual microinsurers are authorized to carry out the entire process of providing insurance services and products online for one or several insurance products as follows:

- Microinsurance, health insurance, term life insurance with a term exceeding one year, and other insurance products with a term of one year or less, for which the insurer, reinsurer, branch, or mutual microinsurer does not require appraisal or risk assessment prior to entering into an insurance policy, as specified in Clause 1, Article 5 of Circular 67/2023/TT-BTC);

- Health insurance, term life insurance with a term of one year or less, motor vehicle insurance, trip and tourism insurance that are provided in any form specified in Article 5 of Circular 67/2023/TT-BTC).

(4) The partial execution of the insurance service and product provision process online entails the online execution of certain activities prescribed in Clause (2) by an insurer, branch of foreign non-life insurer, mutual microinsurer, insurance broker, or insurance agent,  according to the forms outlined in Article 5 of Circular 67/2023/TT-BTC).

In case of partial execution of the insurance service and product provision process online for products not listed in Clause (3), consulting service must be performed directly or in the form of a recorded call between an insurer, branch of foreign non-life insurer, mutual microinsurer, insurance broker, or insurance agent with the policyholder.

Forms of provision of insurance services and products online in Vietnam

Forms of provision of insurance services and products online in Vietnam include:

- A portal/website with registered domain name as per applicable legal regulations, e-commerce selling website, or networked applications that enable service users or policyholder to access the portal/website, e-commerce selling website or applications installed on the portal/website, e-commerce selling website or  e-commerce applications created by insurers, branches of foreign non-life insurers, and mutual microinsurers for online insurance provision purpose.

- Portals/websites with registered domain names as per applicable legal regulations, e-commerce selling websites, e-commerce service websites, or networked applications that enable service users or policyholders access the portals/websites, e-commerce selling websites, or e-commerce service websites that are created by insurance brokers or insurance agents for providing online insurance. E-commerce service websites include the following types:

+ E-commerce trading floor;

+ Other types of websites prescribed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

(Article 5 of Circular 67/2023/TT-BTC)

Circular 67/2023/TT-BTC takes effect on November 2, 2023, except for the following cases:

- Points a, b, c, d, dd, i Clause 1, Points b, d Clause 2, Points a, b Clause 3 Article 20, Points a, b Clause 1 Article 29, Articles 33, 34, 45, 46, 47, 48, 51, Clause 1, Article 52, Article 55, Section 3, and Section 4 Chapter IV of Circular 67/2023/TT-BTC come into force as of January 1, 2023.

- Clause 2 and Clause 3, Article 29 of Circular 67/2023/TT-BTC come into force as of July 1, 2024, sales illustration documents of universal linked products must at least have the information in the Appendix I to Circular No. 52/2016/TT-BTC; sales illustration documents of unit linked products must at least have the information in the Appendix II to Circular No. 135/2012/TT-BTC; sales illustration documents of retirement insurance products must at least have the information in the Appendix IV to Circular No. 115/2013/TT-BTC.

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