Far Out Friday: Hunger strike by life insurance agents

Every advisor has gripes with companies, regulators or government but how far would you go to show your displeasure?

Advisors in India are taking an extreme approach to show their displeasure with a move that imposed a service tax on policy premiums and other deductions.

As part of the all-India strike organized by the Life Insurance Agents' Federation of India, advisors in one region of the country have been staging a relay hunger strike-cum-agents' rest day in front of the branch office.

The hunger strike was launched on March 16 and ends tomorrow.

The county-wide strike by the advisors at the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), a state-owned insurance group and investment company headquartered in Mumbai, is protesting the policy of a cut-off from the total premium of each policy holder as a surcharge and service tax by the LIC authority since 2014.

They are also up in arms because of another charge called Tax Deduction Cost (TDC), which is also taken from every policy holder at the time of maturity of the policy.

The president of Life Insurance Agents' Federation of India, Bhopal Division Pradeep Rawat said the policies of the LIC have enraged all agents working with the company.

The advisors are saying the cut-offs mean they never benefit and are demanding the cessation of the taxes.

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