



A year of insurance reforms in India, yet more ground to cover
₹10 crore, compared with ₹1 crore earlier (excluding penalties of up to ₹5 lakh per day for delayed compliance).Delayed filings of claim details, including date of filing and reason for rejection, could lead to penalties as high as ₹1 lakh per day. It can even conduct search and seizures on insurers, brokers, banks, non-banking finance companies, distributors or third-party associates in case of tampering of proof or documents for fraud.The new bill also formally recognises repositories for e-policy servicing.These moves could collectively rebuild trust in insurance and enhance insurance adoption in India, which dropped to 3.7% in the last fiscal year from 4% in 2023-24, even as non-life insurers witnessed a rise in net incurred claims ratio to 82.88% in 2024-25.“India still has relatively low insurance penetration and uneven social security coverage.
Building trust in formal financial protection is essential. Reforms like these create an environment for consumers to feel assured and enhance insurance adoption,” says Amit Chhabra, CBO - general insurance at Policybazaar.These reforms, along with the reduction in goods and services tax (GST), would lead to an increase in insurance penetration.
Lower GST boosted insurance sales, with first-time buyers accounting for 30% of overall policyholders in 2025–26, according to the Care Health Insurance Trends Report 2025.“In November, a spike in insurance purchases was seen as an impact of 18% GST, which saw first-time insurance buyers too. However, the spike was difficult to sustain,” says Abhishek Bondia, co-founder, insure-tech firm SecureNow.Bondia says sustained growth will depend on policy personalisation and stronger claims assistance—both of which require technology
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