Cyber Insurance is the fastest-growing Insurance segment in India
India Inc. is increasingly looking at dedicated cyber security insurance covers to address pervasive cyber threats including malware attacks, compromised emails, cryptojacking, or instances of disgruntled employees or adversaries attacking software systems and machinery. India Inc.’s cyber insurance cover ranges $1-100 million a year, and is growing at 35% annually. In fact, experts said cyber insurance is the fastest-growing insurance segment in India. While banks, non-banks and information technology services companies were the first to buy cyber insurance covers due to higher exposure to digitally-connected systems and to protect financial transactions, startups and manufacturing firms are now waking up to the importance of such policies, especially post-pandemic, as they digitize their entire production and billing processes. Cyber insurance business is growing at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 30-35% over the past two years. Around ₹300-400 crore comes from cyber policies alone for insurers now. At least 2-5% of the overall new premium collection is generated from sales of cyber insurance.
73% of Indians don’t want non-personal data to be part of new PDP Bill
As the government withdrew the Personal Data Protection (PDP) Bill, 73 percent of Indians don’t want non-personal data to come under the purview of the new bill, a new report by Tsaaro showed. “We should predetermine the scope of such a draft, make it wholesome and inclusive, ready for global governance and learn from the existing legislations as they have already been implemented by taking into account the concerns and positive effects of their laws,” said Akarsh Singh, Co-founder CEO, Tsaaro. 45 per cent think that data localisation should be flexible, 55 per cent say that data transfer regulations should be flexible, 82 percent of Indians think that video surveillance ought to be limited as it processes and collects biometric data. The new bill has to be comprehensive since our diversity and issues are way different from any developed country,
Twitter tunes in to podcasts through Spaces
Twitter is adding podcasts to a test version of its audio chat room Spaces, entering a space dominated by Spotify Technology and Apple Inc. The social media firm said that the feature would be available to a random group of users who can listen to full shows through curated playlists based on their interests, initially only in English. Podcasts will be integrated into Twitter Spaces, which launched in 2020 after the success of Clubhouse during the pandemic. Podcasts boomed in the past two years when people stuck indoors because of COVID-19 curbs turned to them for content ranging from breaking news to true-crime documentaries.
Virtual Influencers breaking the barriers between digital and real-world for brands
The charm and power of virtual influencers are only going to grow because their potential is limitless. Brands use them to actually create engaging dialogues and conversations and establish involved relationships with their customers. As each component of virtual influencers is intentionally crafted, a brand can keep control over everything from creativity to content. Essentially, these virtual humans blur the barriers between the digital and real worlds, which has never happened before, opening up a whole new marketing ballgame. These trendsetting avatars are already being created in-house by brands. KFC created their very own Colonel Sanders virtual influencer to offer their brand a really personal touch. The goal was to appeal to Gen Z customers. Colonel Sander’s hipster style, black-rimmed glasses, and unique silver haircut demonstrate this immediately. Not to miss that the Colonel is tattooed! As the world dives into the world of virtual reality, India has joined the bandwagon by introducing its first-ever virtual influencer, Kyra. Her uncanny resemblance to a real girl has stunned netizens, who look so real with her flawless peachy skin, chic ‘do, and effortlessly friendly attitude. Many international brands are using virtual influencers for a brand’s growth strategy, from Samsung to KFC to Vogue, also luxury brands like Balmain, Louis Vuitton, Tommy Hilfiger, Marc Jacobs, and more.
OTT about to dethrone multiplexes as India’s go-to entertainment option
OTT gamers will quickly do unto multiplexes what multiplexes did to VCR/VCP/VCD gamers in the course of the early 2000s, in accordance with SBI Research’s evaluation. It forecasts OTTs to grow to be a Rs 12,000-crore market by 2023 — a significant soar from Rs 2,590 crore in 2018. This rise displays a compound annual development of 36 per cent. So far, OTT has snatched 7-9 percent of the entertainment trade share and income. The trade, which has over 40-odd gamers providing unique content material in all languages, is rising quickly and constantly. Currently there are greater than 45 crore OTT subscribers immediately in India and this quantity is predicted to reach 50 crore by end-2023, High-speed cell Internet at reasonably priced costs, doubling of Internet customers, increased adoption of digital payments and discounts have led to OTT trade’s eye-catching development in India. OTT’s rise is predicted to eat into cinemas’ income as over 50 percent of subscribers use OTTs greater than 5 hours a month.
Over 115 million Indians have invested in cryptocurrencies
Over 115 million Indians have already invested in cryptocurrencies in the country, said an industry estimate by cryptocurrency exchange, KuCoin. The KuCoin survey projected that by 2030, the total value of investments in cryptocurrencies from India will cross $241 million (about ₹1,900 crore). Cryptocurrency investments in India have taken a hit, ever since the Union government announced a 30% capital gains tax for all profits made through trading cryptocurrency tokens. The tax rate, which came into effect from April 1, is applicable even if an individual’s earnings from crypto trades, which is classified as ‘virtual digital assets’, is below the non-taxed threshold of ₹2.5 lakh in earnings per year. Subsequently, Indian users still trading cryptocurrencies also face a 1% tax deducted at source (TDS) rate for any crypto token purchases, made on centralized crypto exchanges such as WazirX and CoinDCX, among others, above ₹10,000.Ever since the new tax regimes on crypto trading came into place, trading volumes on popular Indian exchanges took a clear dip. The daily average trading volume on WazirX dipped by 48% sequentially — down from $47.18 million in March this year, to $24.39 million in April. On CoinDCX, the daily average trading volume dropped 28% sequentially — from $13.11 million in March to $9.38 million in April. While 67% of all crypto investors in India were willing to make more investments in crypto tokens in the December quarter of 2021, the figure took a dip of around 20% as of June quarter. About a third of all crypto investors are also concerned about government regulations in cryptocurrencies.
Google removes over 2,000 loan apps from India Play Store
Google said it has purged more than 2,000 controversial personal loan apps from its Play Store in India in the January-June period after consulting with the law enforcement agencies. The information came as the Indian government plans to ban 300 such predatory personal loan apps soon. Most of the apps the government aims to ban have been traced to China, linked to money laundering. Google has made it mandatory for personal loan apps in India to complete the additional proof of eligibility requirements.
81% of Indians feel online government services are now a lot easier to use
Around 81% of Indians involved in a new VMWare-Deloitte APAC study said that online services offered by the government are now a lot “easier to use” and 78% said that the quality of services has improved. However, 86% of Indians still believe that governments should spend more on technology. In APAC, 77% of participants said that they use digital platforms to access government services, while the use of in-person government services declined by 50% in the last two years, the study found. In India, 80% of the participants involved in the study believe that the use of technology in government services will make society more egalitarian. Around 89% of Indians also said that they are ready to learn new digital skills or use a new platform. “Citizens expect the same level of services and quality as those delivered by private companies or organizations,” Sylvain Cazard, senior vice president and general manager, Asia Pacific and Japan, VMware said in a statement. The study shows that 67% of participants in APAC expect the quality of online services by the government to be as good as that of private companies.