**Executive Summary**
This document is the answer provided by the Minister of State for Agriculture and Farmers Welfare to the Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1467, addressing complaints regarding non-payment of claims under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). It outlines the reasons for claim delays, the government's efforts to strengthen the scheme, and provides state-wise details of claim calculations, payments, and pending amounts as of October 31st, 2025 (data from 2022-23 to 2024-25). New tranche-based claims settlement is initiated from 2025-26.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **PMFBY Claim Settlement:**
* Majority of PMFBY claims are settled within 21 days of receiving yield data from State Governments.
* Delays occur due to:
* Delayed State Government subsidy share.
* Incorrect/delayed submission of insurance proposals by banks.
* Discrepancies in yield data leading to disputes.
* Pending claims are settled as per scheme provisions after issue resolution.
* State-wise claims data (calculated, paid, and pending from 2022-23 to 2024-25) is provided in an Annexure.
* **Government Initiatives:**
* Developed the National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) for data consolidation, subsidy payment, co-ordination, transparency, information dissemination, online farmer enrollment, and electronic claim transfers.
* Operationalized 'Digiclaim Module' for rigorous claim disbursal monitoring from Kharif 2022, integrating NCIP with PFMS and insurance company accounting systems.
* Delinked Central Government share of premium subsidy from State Government shares for proportionate claim allocation.
* Introduced a 12% penalty via NCIP for delayed payments by Insurance Companies (w.e.f. Kharif 2024) and State Governments.
* Initiated tranche-based claims settlement from 2025-26.
* Leveraging technology like capturing yield data/Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs) data through CCE-Agri App & uploading it on the NCIP, allowing insurance companies to witness the conduct of CCEs, integration of State land records with NCIP etc.
* **Technology Implementation for Crop Damage Assessment:**
* Implemented YES-TECH (Yield Estimation System Based on Technology) from 2023-24 for remote-sensing-based yield estimation, beginning with paddy & wheat crops. Soybean crop has been added from Kharif 2024 season.
* Implemented WINDS (Weather Information Network and Data System) for hyperlocal weather data collection, coordinated with the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
* **Continuous Scheme Improvement:**
* Regularly monitoring the functioning of insurance companies, including timely settlement of claims through weekly video conferences of all stakeholders, one to one meeting as well as National Review Conferences.
* Ongoing review/revision/rationalization of crop insurance schemes, taking into account stakeholder feedback.
* Periodic revisions to PMFBY Operational Guidelines to ensure timely and transparent benefits to farmers.
**Impact Analysis**
**Farmers:**
* **Impact:** Directly affected by the payment or delay in payment of PMFBY claims and benefit from improved transparency and timely settlement of claims.
* **Action Required:** Engage in direct online enrollment, and utilize provided services for improved monitoring and electronic transfer of claim amounts.
**State Governments:**
* **Impact:** Responsible for providing timely yield data and subsidy shares to ensure timely claim settlements. Subject to penalties for delays in subsidy payments.
* **Action Required:** Provide timely yield data and subsidy shares and pay penalties for delay. Integrate state land records with NCIP.
**Insurance Companies:**
* **Impact:** Responsible for timely claim settlement and subject to penalties for delays. Need to integrate with NCIP and PFMS for claim disbursal monitoring.
* **Action Required:** Integrate with NCIP and PFMS, utilize captured yield data/Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs) data through CCE-Agri App & uploading it on the NCIP and ensure timely processing of claims.
**Banks:**
* **Impact:** Responsible for submitting correct insurance proposals on time.
* **Action Required:** Improve the process of submitting correct insurance proposals to the government and insurance companies on time.
Key Entities Referenced
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY): A crop insurance scheme providing financial support to farmers in the event of crop loss or damage due to natural calamities.
Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare: The central government ministry responsible for policies and programs related to agriculture and farmers' welfare, including the PMFBY scheme.
National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP): A single source of data for ensuring subsidy payment, coordination, transparency, dissemination of information, and delivery of services related to crop insurance.
YES-TECH (Yield Estimation System Based on Technology): A technology for gradual migration to Remote-Sensing based yield estimation to help assess yields as well as fair and accurate Crop Yield Estimation.
WINDS (Weather Information Network and Data System): A system for setting up a network of Automatic Weather Stations and Automatic Rain-Gauges to collect hyper-local weather data.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1467
TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 9TH DECEMBER, 2025
COMPLAINTS OF NON-PAYMENT OF PMFBY CLAIMS
1467. SHRI K RADHAKRISHNAN:
Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ(cid:874)ष एवं (cid:873)कसान क(cid:227)याण म(cid:287)ं ी
be pleased to state:
(a) whether several farmers have complained of non-payment or delayed payment of
compensation under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY);
(b) if so, the total insurance claims pending during the last three years, State-wise;
(c) the reasons for the delay and whether private insurance companies have profited
while farmers suffered losses; and
(d) whether the Government proposes to reform the scheme to ensure timely settlement
of claims?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
कृ(cid:874)ष एवं (cid:873)कसान क(cid:227)याण रा(cid:207)य म(cid:287)ं ी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR)
(a) to (c) : As prescribed in the Operational Guidelines of the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima
Yojana (PMFBY), majority of the claims are settled within the stipulated timelines i.e within
21 days of the receipt of requisite yield data from the concerned State Government, by the
insurance companies However, during the implementation of PMFBY, some complaints
were received in the past about payment of claims which are primarily on account of (a)
delay in providing State Government share of subsidy (b) non-payment/delayed payment
or under payment of claims on account of incorrect/delayed submission of insurance
proposals by banks (c) discrepancy in yield data & consequent disputes between State
Government and insurance companies etc. The pending claims on account of these issue
are settled after their resolution as per provisions of the scheme.
State-wise details of claims calculated, Claims paid and pending during last three
years i.e. from 2022-23 to 2024-25 are given in Annexure.
Crop insurance is a major risk mitigation tool for the benefit of farmers in the event of
non-preventable natural calamities. It may be noted that insurance is not an investment.
Insurance is all about spreading the risk spatially & temporally. Insurers save premium in
good seasons/years and pay high claims, if any, in bad years from the savings made in thegood years. There are many incidences during implementation of the scheme when
insurance companies have paid claims in excess of 100% of premium received in case of
natural calamities during different seasons.
(d) : Government has taken various steps to strengthen implementation of this scheme all
over India to bring transparency and ensure timely settlement of claims:
Government has undertaken development of National Crop Insurance Portal
(NCIP) as a single source of data ensuring subsidy payment, co-ordination,
transparency, dissemination of information and delivery of services including
direct online enrollment of farmers, uploading/obtaining individual insured famer’s
details for better monitoring and to ensure transfer of claim amount electronically
to the individual farmer’s Bank Account.
In order to rigorously monitor claim disbursal process, a dedicated module namely
‘Digiclaim Module’ has been operationalized for payment of claims from Kharif
2022 onwards. It involves integration of NCIP with Public Finance Management
System (PFMS) and accounting system of Insurance Companies to provide timely
& transparent processing of all claims.
Delinking of Central Government share of premium subsidy from that of State
Governments has been implemented so that farmers can get proportionate claims
relating to the Central Government share.
As per the Operational Guidelines of PMFBY, in case payment is not made timely
by Insurance Company, a penalty of 12% is auto-calculated and levied through
National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) w.e.f. Kharif 2024.
Similarly, if State Government delayed its premium subsidy from stipulated time
period, a penalty of 12% is to be paid by them also.
Tranche based claims settlement has been initiated from 2025-26.
Also, towards leveraging technology in implementation of the scheme, various
steps like capturing of yield data/Crop Cutting Experiments (CCEs) data through
CCE-Agri App & uploading it on the NCIP, allowing insurance companies to
witness the conduct of CCEs, integration of State land records with NCIP etc.
have already been taken to improve timely settlement of the claims to farmers.
Following technologies for Objective Crop Damage & Loss Assessment and
transparency have also been implemented w.e.f. 2023-24 under the scheme:
i. YES-TECH (Yield Estimation System Based on Technology) for gradual
migration to Remote-Sensing based yield estimation to help assess yields as well as
fair and accurate Crop Yield Estimation. This initiative has been launched for paddy
& wheat crops from Kharif 2023 wherein 30% weightage to yield estimation will
mandatorily be assigned to YES-TECH derived yield. Soybean crop has been added
from Kharif 2024 season.
ii. WINDS (Weather Information Network and Data System) for setting up of
Network of Automatic Weather Stations (AWS) & Automatic Rain-Gauges (ARG) to
the tune of 5 times of existing network for collecting hyper-local weather data at GP
& Block level. This will be fed into a National database with interoperability & sharing
of data in coordination with India Meteorological Department (IMD). WINDS
provides data not only for YES-TECH but also for effective drought & disastermanagement, accurate weather prediction and offering better parametric insurance
products.
Department is regularly monitoring the functioning of insurance companies, including
timely settlement of claims through weekly video conferences of all stakeholders, one to
one meeting as well as National Review Conferences.
Further, the review/revisions / rationalization / improvements in the crop insurance
schemes is a continuous process and decision on suggestion/ representations/
recommendations of the stakeholders/studies are taken from time to time. Based on the
experience gained, views of various stakeholders and with a view to ensure better
transparency, accountability, timely payment of claims to the farmers and to make the
scheme more farmer friendly, Government has periodically revised the Operational
Guidelines of the PMFBY comprehensively to ensure that the eligible benefits under the
scheme reach the farmers timely and transparently.Annexure
PMFBY & RWBCIS: State Wise details of Claims Calculated, Paid and pending
from 2022-23 to 2024-25 (as on 31st October, 2025)
Claims Calculated Claims Paid Claims Pending
State/UT Name
(Rs. In Crore)
A & N Islands 0.05 0.02 0.03
Andhra Pradesh 3,124.45 747.08 2,377.37
Assam 169.08 161.29 7.79
Chhattisgarh 1,394.07 1,389.47 4.60
Goa 0.01 0.01 0.00
Haryana 3,174.24 3,142.14 32.10
Himachal Pradesh 218.01 212.31 5.70
Jammu & Kashmir 69.77 67.19 2.58
Jharkhand 27.28 - 27.28
Karnataka 7,505.03 7,389.49 115.54
Kerala 357.32 345.14 12.17
Madhya Pradesh 3,340.77 3,301.05 39.72
Maharashtra 20,599.49 20,373.07 226.42
Manipur 5.45 5.28 0.17
Meghalaya 24.23 23.97 0.25
Odisha 974.29 963.79 10.50
Puducherry 8.69 7.29 1.40
Rajasthan 9,950.25 9,787.70 162.55
Sikkim 0.02 0.01 0.01
Tamil Nadu 2,417.43 2,359.28 58.14
Tripura 4.57 4.46 0.11
Uttar Pradesh 1,921.70 1,878.34 43.35
Uttarakhand 865.67 711.37 154.30
Total 56,151.88 52,869.78 3,282.10
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