Muniyamma, an Ujjivan customer at the K.R. Puram branch in Bangalore passed away one morning, leaving behind a grieving family. Her group members informed the local Ujjivan branch of her demise. The CRM Francis Loi Selvaraj rushed to her house only to find the family in distress as they had no money even to perform the last rites. Muniyamma was a native of Tamil Nadu and the ceremonies needed to be performed there. However the family could not arrange money for the travel expenses. Francis returned to the branch and confirmed the news of the death to the Insurance department at the Head Office. Francis obtained a quick approval to provide the customer Rs. 2000/- as funeral advance. The amount was given to Muniyamma’s family by the same evening and the family was relieved that they could now proceed to Tamil Nadu to perform the last rites.

This episode evoked a sense of gratitude amongst her group members and others in the local community. This event was narrated by the priest at the Sunday morning mass in the local church, despite Muniyamma belonging to the Hindu community. The priest also hailed the efforts of Ujjivan to help the poor build better lives and mentioned that he was proud that such an organisation was working with the underprivileged in the locality.

From January 2010, Ujjivan has introduced the funeral advance facility for its customers and their spouses, who have availed an Insurance policy through Ujjivan. With this facility customers (or their families) are provided with an amount of Rs. 2000/- immediately on the news of a death. This amount is meant to provide immediate financial relief to the family of the deceased and to help meet the funeral expenses.