Crop insurance: Micro agents can now sell Govt-sponsored schemes

Micro insurance agents have now been permitted by The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to sell government-sponsored crop insurance products to farmers.

With the above decision, crop insurance products under schemes such as:
1- Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY),
2- Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) and
3- Coconut Palm Insurance Scheme (CPIS)
can now be bought by farmers from micro insurance agents without any limit on the sum assured.

However, key modalities, such as the sum insured, premium, premium rate per crop, and unit area will remain as notified under the respective government-sponsored insurance schemes without any change, PJ Joseph, Member, Non-Life, IRDAI, said.

Till now, micro agents could only sell crop insurance products with a maximum cover of ₹1 lakh, according to the norms issued by the regulator last year. Also, currently, government-sponsored insurance schemes are mostly sold along with crop loans taken by farmers.

Source - IRDAI