Big news from New Delhi — the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) has officially removed the age limit on purchasing www batteryplay in health insurance. Previously, people over 65 struggled to get new policies, and many older adults were left without access to coverage despite rising medical costs.

This change is not just technical — it fundamentally reshapes who can access financial protection in case of medical emergencies. IRDAI now requires insurers to offer health plans for all age groups, including seniors, children, students, and even maternity-specific products. For people with serious health conditions such as cancer, renal failure, heart disease, or AIDS, this regulation is particularly important: insurers can no longer refuse coverage to high-risk groups solely due to pre-existing conditions. This move signals a strong step toward inclusivity, ensuring that vulnerable populations are no longer excluded from vital healthcare financial protection.

The regulatory body has also mandated more flexible premium payment options. Insurers must now allow policyholders to pay in installments, reducing the upfront financial burden and making insurance more attainable for middle- and lower-income families. Experts suggest this could lead to a significant increase in overall insurance penetration, particularly among senior citizens, who are often most at risk for high medical costs but have historically faced discrimination in policy issuance.

Health insurance companies like ICICI Lombard, HDFC Ergo, and Star Health have already begun rolling out updated products that comply with the new regulations. Industry analysts predict that this change could fundamentally alter India’s insurance landscape, making it more competitive while improving financial security for millions of people. With India’s healthcare costs rising rapidly, IRDAI’s decision may be a critical step toward ensuring that more citizens have access to timely, affordable healthcare.

India’s insurance industry is experiencing significant growth, yet it faces betgames demo several challenges that could impact its future trajectory. According to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), the country’s life insurance sector is projected to reach a gross written premium (GWP) of ₹10.1 trillion (approximately $120.5 billion) in 2025, marking an annual growth rate of 9.9%. This growth is driven by factors such as increased financial awareness, the adoption of digital platforms, and a shift in consumer preferences toward both whole life and term insurance products.

However, the industry is also grappling with challenges that could affect its growth. In August 2025, the life insurance sector reported a slower growth rate, with the Annual Premium Equivalent (APE) rising by 6.6%, down from 10.5% a year earlier. New business premiums fell by 5.2% year-on-year during the same period. This slowdown is attributed to factors such as muted auto sales and weak corporate health insurance renewals, which have affected the industry’s overall growth.

Additionally, the non-life insurance sector has experienced a deceleration in premium growth. In August 2025, premiums in the non-life insurance sector grew by just 1.6% year-on-year, a significant decline from the 4.2% growth recorded in August 2024. This slowdown is partly due to factors such as lower credit life sales and challenges in the health insurance segment.

Despite these challenges, the Indian insurance industry remains one of the fastest-growing markets globally. The government’s proposed amendments to allow 100% foreign direct investment (FDI) in the insurance sector aim to attract long-term foreign capital, enhance competition, and accelerate growth. If passed by parliament, these reforms could significantly transform the landscape of India’s insurance industry.

In conclusion, while India’s insurance sector continues to grow, it faces challenges that could impact its future growth. Addressing these issues and implementing proposed reforms will be crucial for sustaining the industry’s momentum and achieving its growth potential.

During Reliance Industries’ 46th Annual General Meeting, chairman Mukesh Ambani announced that Jio Financial Services, the financial division of Reliance Jio, has plans to offer insurance products, including life, general, and health insurance. The company aims to enter the insurance sector through partnerships with global players and will utilize predictive data analytics to co-create products tailored to meet unique customer requirements.

Ambani explained, “JFS will enter the insurance segment to offer simple, yet smart, Life, General, and Health insurance products through a seamless digital interface, potentially partnering with global players. It will use predictive data analytics to co-create contextual products with partners and cater to customer requirements in a truly unique way.”

Jio Financial Services is in the process of consolidating its infrastructure to provide a universal platform for both consumers and merchants. This move aims to drive the adoption of digital payments in India. Additionally, the company plans to surpass current industry standards by offering innovative features such as blockchain-based platforms and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) ensuring the highest level of security, regulatory compliance, and protection of customer transaction data.

In addition to insurance services, Jio Financial Services intends to expand into merchant lending and launch a wealth management service in partnership with BlackRock. These developments are part of JFS’s broader ambition to democratize financial services for the 1.42 billion Indians, providing them with access to simple, affordable, innovative, and intuitive products and services.

Reliance is currently internally testing a sound box that is powered by Jio Pay, their digital payment platform. The device is being trialed with employees at some of their stores on the company’s campus. However, it is unclear when the sound box will be available to the public, and Reliance did not respond to requests for further comment on the matter.

Ambani concluded by stating, “Just like Jio and Retail, JFS too will prove to be an invaluable addition to the Reliance ecosystem of customer-facing businesses.” Reliance has capitalized Jio Financial Services with a net worth of INR 1,20,000 crore.

The district consumer disputes redressal commission in Thiruvallur has instructed an insurance company to pay a sum of 15.5 lakh to a victim of a road accident. The victim, M Nagabushanam, sustained severe head injuries in a March 2020 accident while riding his two-wheeler. After undergoing treatment for over eight months, Nagabushanam slipped into a coma following a surgery.

As Nagabushanam had insured his vehicle, his son, N Nethaji, filed a claim for the damage caused to the bike. Oriental Insurance processed the claim and settled it accordingly. However, in the subsequent months, Nagabushanam experienced complete disability and eventually passed away in May 2021. Subsequently, his family submitted a separate claim under his personal accident policy. Unfortunately, the same insurance company rejected the claim, citing that it was filed eight months after the accident occurred. The policy guidelines state that such applications should be submitted within six months.

In response, Nagabushanam’s wife, N Rani, sought relief from the Thiruvallur commission. The insurance company argued that they had already compensated 40,000 for the vehicle damage, and even the insurance ombudsman ruled in their favor.

The commission acknowledged that it is impossible to predict death or permanent disability within six months after an accident. The insurance company had previously confirmed that Nagabushanam was in a coma. The patient’s medical records attested that his death was a result of the injuries caused by the accident. Therefore, the commission deemed the insurance company at fault, referring to orders from the Madras High Court.

Consequently, the commission ordered the insurance firm to pay the 15 lakh claim amount along with an additional 55,000 as compensation for the mental anguish and hardships endured by the complainant. The payment must also include a 6% interest rate.

Public sector insurance companies are reassessing their investment in Health Insurance Third Party Administrator (TPA) of India, a captive services company, due to its failure to meet objectives. According to sources, a committee consisting of former Oriental Insurance chairman Anjan Dey and other public sector undertaking (PSU) officials has been established to present a roadmap.

A third party administrator (TPA) is a company that handles back-office claims work for health insurance. HITPA, incorporated in 2013 in Delhi, aimed to enhance customer experience and increase efficiency in processing health insurance claims for public sector insurers. Additionally, an anticipated benefit was the reduction of losses in the health insurance portfolio of these insurers.

HITPA is a joint venture between five public sector insurance companies – National Insurance, Oriental Insurance, New India Assurance, United India Insurance, and GIC of India. The PSU insurers collectively invested Rs 120 crore in the TPA to develop the necessary infrastructure.

The district consumer grievances redressal forum has criticized a general insurance company for refusing to accept the car insurance claims of a petitioner.

Laxmikanth Khatwate, residing in Dattatreya Colony in Hubballi, had obtained a comprehensive insurance policy from Reliance General Insurance for his Hyundai car by paying a premium of Rs 16,606. This insurance was valid from June 2021 to June 2022.

However, in January 2022, the car was involved in an accident on Hubballi-Karwar Road and sustained damage. Laxmikanth approached the insurance company to file a claim.

However, the company rejected the claim, stating that there were additional passengers in the car at the time of the accident, which violated the company’s rules.

In response to this, the petitioner lodged a complaint with the district consumer grievances redressal forum, arguing that this constituted a service lapse and requested the Forum to order the company to settle the claims.

After hearing the complaint, the Forum, led by retired judge Eshappa Bhute, ruled that since the general insurance policy was active when the accident occurred, it was the company’s responsibility to provide insurance benefits. The Forum decreed that it was unjustifiable for the claim to be rejected on the grounds that six people were traveling in a five-seater car, thereby denying insurance coverage. The Forum directed the insurance company to pay an insurance amount of Rs 4.7 lakh within 30 days of receiving the order.

Bhute also ordered the company to compensate the petitioner with Rs 50,000 for mental distress and inconvenience, as well as Rs 10,000 as the expenses incurred during the case.

Cardiac surgeon Dr Devi Shetty’s Narayana Health group has applied for a license from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) to start a health insurance business. The group has established Narayana One Health and has appointed insurance industry veteran Ravi Vishwanath to lead it. Previously, Vishwanath was responsible for the health and accident businesses at HDFC Ergo.

Dr Shetty’s objective is to offer affordable coverage by reducing the cost of treatment in hospitals through economies of scale. His model proposes that insurance coverage be widespread so that the contributions of many can cover the costs of the few who require treatment. Currently, Narayana Health provides healthcare plans from a provider’s perspective, but health insurance would allow for comprehensive coverage without any limitations on providers or geographic areas.

According to the CEO of a private health insurer, the model of affordable health coverage through cheaper healthcare would be highly beneficial for the industry. Medical inflation tends to be higher than general inflation due to frequent advances in medical technology. Additionally, while health insurance increases the demand for healthcare services, it takes time to establish additional capacity to meet this demand.

Dr Shetty, known for performing India’s first neonatal heart surgery and as Mother Teresa’s physician, founded Narayana Hrudayalaya in Bengaluru in 2001. His approach to achieving economies of scale in healthcare to reduce costs has earned him the nickname “Henry Ford” of heart surgery by the US media.

Hospitalisation coverage still dominates the health insurance market in India, and standalone health insurance companies have only been around for less than two decades. Currently, there are five standalone health insurance companies in the country, most of which operate by enrolling hospitals into a network to provide cashless claims service.

According to transport minister Antony Raju, the state government will engage in discussions with insurance companies to establish a condition for vehicle insurance renewal. This condition requires that all outstanding penalties for traffic violations be settled before renewal can take place. The government’s decision is prompted by the low rate of fine payments from motorists who have been caught by recently installed artificial intelligence cameras. While fines totaling Rs 25.81 crore have been issued to motorists for traffic violations, only Rs 3.37 crore has been collected thus far. Since the AI cameras became operational on June 5, a total of 32,42,277 violations have been detected. Out of these, 15,83,367 violations have been verified and 3,23,604 challans have been issued.

Raju noted that the recent increase in staff numbers has facilitated the verification and processing of rule violations, ultimately expediting the overall process. Among the recorded violations, the highest number is for helmet-less travel (2,21,251 cases), followed by pillion riders travelling without helmets (1,50,606 cases). Additionally, the cameras have detected 1,70,043 cases of drivers not wearing seatbelts and 1,86,673 cases of front-seat passengers without seatbelts. Other violations include 5,886 cases of triple riding on two-wheelers and 6,118 cases of mobile phone usage while driving.

The transport minister further stated that an online facility for registering complaints will be implemented starting from September 1. Moreover, as of September 1, seatbelts will be mandatory for drivers and passengers in heavy vehicles. It’s important to note that seatbelts are already obligatory for all vehicles registered after 1994.

Raju dismissed the allegations that VIP vehicles are exempt from penalties, asserting that fines have been imposed on 328 government vehicles thus far. The AI cameras detected violations by vehicles of MLAs 19 times and vehicles of MPs 10 times, the minister added.

Two men have been apprehended by the police for deceiving individuals by pretending to be insurance agents from a reputable company and requesting payment for premiums. The police stated that in the most recent case, the fraudsters targeted an employee in the private sector who ended up losing Rs6 lakh to them. The victim, in his complaint on July 21 at the Dwarka cyber police station, reported that an unidentified individual had called him, pretending to be an executive from a well-known insurance company, and informed him about an outstanding policy.

Furthermore, the caller claimed that the premium for the mentioned insurance policy had been unpaid since 2020 and assured the victim that the policy would mature on time. Following the suspect’s instructions, the victim transferred Rs6 lakh to the accounts provided by the alleged fraudster, who then turned off his mobile phones.

During the investigation, the police obtained details of the beneficiary bank account. “Based on technical surveillance, the police team conducted a raid in Murthal at Sonipat, Haryana, and arrested Sahil Malhotra (25),” said M Harsha Vardhan, DCP of Dwarka.

“Sahil revealed that he had provided the bank account details of his friend, Ashwani Tiwari (33), on a commission basis. Subsequent raids were conducted, leading to the arrest of Tiwari,” the DCP added.

Natural disasters like floods can be devastating for car owners. In India, with the monsoon season bringing floods to many cities, including the national capital, car owners are facing the risk of their vehicles being left stranded in water-logged areas. If you have car insurance that covers flood damage, here’s a step-by-step guide on how to make a claim.

Firstly, it is important not to try starting your car’s engine as this could cause further damage and may void your insurance coverage.

Next, notify your insurance company immediately. The sooner you inform them, the quicker they can begin the claims process. You can contact them via phone, email, or in person.

It is also advisable to file a police report if your car has been damaged or swept away in floodwaters. This report will help your insurance company assess the extent of the damage and may be required if you are claiming for a total loss and the vehicle is not located by the police department.

Gather all relevant documentation such as your car’s registration certificate, insurance policy, and any other documents that show the extent of the damage. It is also helpful to take photos or videos of the damage, being as accurate and detailed as possible when describing it.

Work with your insurance company to assess the damage. An insurance company representative will come to your car and evaluate the damage. They may assist in moving your vehicle to a garage for further assessment. The adjuster will determine the extent of the damage and the cost of repairs. It is possible to negotiate the claim amount with your insurance company if necessary.

Once you have agreed on a claim amount, your insurance company will make the payment. This can be a lump sum or paid out in installments.