The idea is ambitious: a unified online marketplace that evolves into a digital public infrastructure, bringing together insurers, intermediaries, customers and other stakeholders.
The platform was originally slated for an April 2023 launch but deadlines have been pushed multiple times. Earlier this month, Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (Irdai) chairman Ajay Seth unveiled the official website—bimasugam.co.in—but it displays the message “marketplace coming soon”.
The platform features calculators—Human Life, BMI, Retirement Planning, and Child Education—to help you assess your insurance needs. These tools help in generating leads for insurance companies.
“The rollout of platform features will follow a phased approach, ensuring the highest levels of security, compliance, and scalability,” said the Bima Sugam India Federation (BSIF) in a press release issued during the launch. “In line with the board-approved roadmap, the marketplace will progressively go live with real transactions as insurers and ecosystem partners complete necessary integrations over the coming months.”
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What is Bima Sugam?
For insurers, it is also about bridging the trust gap. “Insurance companies regularly pay thousands of crores in claims each year, yet the industry struggles with a trust deficit,” said Adarsh Agarwal, appointed Aactuary, Digit Insurance, a general insurance company. “Since Bima Sugam is regulator-enabled, customer centricity is at its core and will play a pivotal role in rebuilding trust.”
It will be an insurance e-marketplace, a robust digital public infrastructure, where anything and everything will be at the fingertips of consumers—from product details to servicing and claims, implementation expected in a phased manner, said Somesh Surana, joint president, Digital Business Group & Marketing, HDFC Ergo General Insurance.
How it differs from private platforms
Unlike private online brokerage platforms such as Policybazaar or InsuranceDekho, Bima Sugam is a non-profit, industry-owned platform. It will not be driven by profitability or product push, but by penetration and accessibility.
Industry experts see it as a medium- to long-term game. “This portal can create something privately funded platforms cannot—a multi-channel, inclusive ecosystem which is not driven by profits or positive cash-flows. The impact will be quite visible in increasing penetration, especially in smaller towns and rural India,” said Mayank Gupta, co-founder, Zopper, an insure-tech solutions provider.
Vaibhav Kathju, founder of INKA, an online insurance distribution platform, points out that the platform’s mass-market orientation will be crucial in driving adoption. “While its full impact may take years to materialize, industry experts believe it has the potential to redefine how insurance is accessed and distributed across the country,” he said.
Intermediaries, too, are expected to benefit, with a ready-made digital infrastructure to serve customers beyond metros. “This initiative will expand reach and benefit new-age distributors as well. If players are able to build their innovations on top of the Bima Trinity (more about it later), it could unlock tremendous opportunities for the industry,” Kathju added.
Premium pricing, claims experience
The platform will have no impact on how a product is priced. “Whether you buy a product from online marketplace, private distribution platforms, insurance companies, or physical agents, the pricing will broadly remain the same. Irdai regulations don’t allow intermediaries to offer differential pricing for the same retail product – and that’s a very good thing, as it ensures fairness and transparency,” Kathju explained.
Though the claims module is yet to roll out, stakeholders expect a big shift in experience once integrations are complete.
“Bima Sugam aims to fundamentally change claims by enabling customers to file and track them in real time and receive faster settlements. As insurer APIs integrate, more features will be unlocked,” Agarwal of Digit said.
However, for now, policyholders will need to wait.
The trinity
Bima Sugam is one of the three pillars of Irdai’s larger mission to broaden insurance coverage. The other two are Bima Vistaar and Bima Vahak. Bima Vistaar is a composite product bundling life, health, accident and property insurance under one policy, to be distributed via Bima Sugam. Bima Vahak is a women-focused distribution network at the village or Gram Sabha level, aimed at last-mile penetration. Both are in the works.
“Consider Bima Vahak in insurance as equivalent to banking correspondents for banks. While the platform will be industry-owned, technology providers like us are working on how Bima Vahak will sell Bima Vistaar products,” said Gupta of Zopper.
Still years away
The ambition is clear, but industry experts believe the journey will take time. “Bima Sugam is still some time away from having a sizable impact. That said, when it matures, it will help the industry grow, improve penetration, and eventually make insurance access as seamless as payments became with UPI,” said Kathju.
For now, the grand vision remains on paper—with policyholders waiting for its promises to turn into practice.
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