**Executive Summary**
This document is the answer to Unstarred Question No. 447 in Lok Sabha, to be answered on December 2, 2025, concerning discrepancies in the settlement of claims under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). It outlines the government's awareness of farmer complaints and the measures taken to address them, including ensuring prompt claim settlement and accurate damage assessment. The response details several initiatives and technological advancements implemented to enhance transparency and efficiency in the scheme.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **PMFBY Implementation:**
* Selection of insurance models and companies, farmer enrollment, crop yield assessment, and claim payments are managed by State Governments/Joint Committees and insurance companies.
* Stakeholder roles and responsibilities are defined in the Operational Guidelines.
* **Claim Settlement Issues and Resolution:**
* Complaints primarily arise from delays in State Government subsidy shares, incorrect/delayed submission of insurance proposals by banks, and yield data discrepancies.
* Pending claims are settled upon resolution of these issues as per scheme provisions.
* **Government Initiatives for Improvement:**
* The National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) serves as a single data source for subsidy payment, coordination, transparency, and direct enrollment of farmers.
* The 'Digiclaim Module' rigorously monitors claim disbursal by integrating NCIP with PFMS and insurance company accounting systems.
* Central Government premium subsidy is delinked from that of State Governments for proportionate claim access.
* Penalties of 12% are auto-calculated and levied on Insurance Companies/State Government for delayed payments via NCIP.
* **Technological Advancements:**
* YES-TECH (Yield Estimation System Based on Technology) is implemented for remote-sensing based yield estimation, with a gradual increase in weightage. Soybean added from Kharif 2024.
* WINDS (Weather Information Network and Data System) establishes a network of weather stations for localized data collection to enhance weather prediction and parametric insurance products.
* **Grievance Redressal:**
* A Stratified Grievance Redressal Mechanism (District and State Level Committees) addresses farmer complaints.
* The Krishi Rakshak Portal and Helpline (KRPH) provides a toll-free number (14447) linked to insurance company databases for grievance registration, with fixed resolution timelines.
* **Monitoring and Review:**
* The Department regularly monitors insurance company functions, including claim settlement, through video conferences and review meetings.
* Operational Guidelines are periodically revised to improve transparency, accountability, and timely claim payments, ensuring benefits reach farmers.
**Impact Analysis**
* **Farmers**
**Impact:** Experience improved access to insurance claims, greater transparency in the process, and a more responsive grievance redressal system.
**Action Required:** Utilize the provided grievance mechanisms (Helpline number 14447) to report and resolve claim-related issues.
* **State Governments / Joint Committees**
**Impact:** Share responsibility for the PMFBY implementation. Changes in processes, such as the necessity to pay penalties for delayed subsidies.
**Action Required:** Ensure timely payment of their share of premium subsidy and accurate data submission to avoid penalties and ensure prompt claim settlement.
* **Insurance Companies**
**Impact:** Responsible for the settlement of claims within specified timelines and are subject to penalties for delays.
**Action Required:** Implement the Digiclaim Module, integrate with the NCIP, and adhere to the fixed timelines for settling claims to avoid penalties.
* **Banks**
**Impact:** Ensuring they provide insurance proposals in a timely and correct manner.
**Action Required:** Ensure accurate and timely submission of insurance proposals to avoid delays in claim settlements for farmers.
Key Entities Referenced
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY): The primary crop insurance scheme addressed in the question and answer, concerning discrepancies in claim settlements.
Operational Guidelines: The guidelines outlining the scheme's implementation, roles, and responsibilities of stakeholders, periodically revised to improve the scheme.
National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP): A single-source data portal used for subsidy payment, coordination, transparency, and delivery of services for the PMFBY scheme.
Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare: The ministry responsible for addressing the questions related to the implementation of PMFBY.
State Government: Plays a significant role in the PMFBY scheme, including payment of subsidy share and joint assessment of claims.
O.I.H.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 447
TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 02ND DECEMBER, 2025
DISCREPANCIES IN SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS OF PMFBY
447. SMT. HEMA MALINI:
Will the Minister of AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE कृ िष एवं िकसान क(cid:670)ाण मं(cid:361)ी
be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government is aware of the problems and complaints of farmers regarding
discrepancies in settlement of claims under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY);
(b) whether any special measures are being taken by the Government to alleviate the
problems of farmers and resolve their complaints regarding insurance claims; and
(c) the special steps taken to ensure that farmers receive claims under the PMFBY
promptly and simultaneously and that damage assessment is done in an accurate
manner?
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
कृ िष एवं िकसान क(cid:670)ाण रा(cid:475) मं(cid:361)ी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR)
(a) : Under Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), all the major work like selection
of insurance model, selection of Insurance Companies through transparent bidding
process, enrollment of farmers, assessment of crop yield/crop loss and uploading of
Threshold Yield & Actual Yield on National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) for calculation
and payment of admissible claims directly to the farmer’s account are being performed by
the concerned State Government or Joint Committee of State Government officials and
insurance company concerned. The roles and responsibilities of each stakeholder are
defined in the Operational Guidelines of the scheme for the proper execution of the
scheme.
Further, majority of the claims are settled within the stipulated timelines under the
Operational Guidelines of the scheme 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.(b) & (c) : 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.
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 & disaster
management, accurate weather prediction and offering better parametric insurance
products.
Since the scheme is implemented by the State Government, therefore, in order to
resolve the grievances/complaints including those related to claims of insured farmers,
provision of Stratified Grievance Redressal Mechanism viz. District Level Grievance
Redressal Committee (DGRC), State Level Grievance Redressal Committee (SGRC) has
been made in the Revised Operational Guidelines of the Scheme. These committees
have been given the detailed mandate as outlined in the Operational Guidelines for hearing
the complaints/ grievances and to dispose them as per the stipulated procedure.
To further improve the grievance redressal mechanism, Krishi Rakshak Portal and
Helpline (KRPH) has been developed. A single Pan-India toll free number 14447 has been
deployed and linked to the insurance companies database, where farmers can raise their
grievances/issues. Timelines to resolve these grievances/issues has also been fixed.
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.
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.
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