**Executive Summary**
This document addresses discrepancies in crop insurance claim payments under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY). It identifies causes of claim payment delays and outlines measures taken to improve the transparency and efficiency of the claim settlement process, including technological interventions and grievance redressal mechanisms. The information was provided in response to Unstarred Question No. 2677, scheduled for answer on December 16th, 2025.
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Claim Settlement Under PMFBY:**
* The majority of PMFBY claims are settled within 21 days of receiving required yield data from the State Government.
* Past complaints primarily relate to:
* Delays in State Government subsidy share.
* Incorrect/delayed submission of insurance proposals by banks.
* Discrepancies in yield data leading to disputes between State Government and insurance companies.
* Pending claims are resolved according to scheme provisions.
* **Claims Data for Tamil Nadu (2022-23 to 2024-25):**
* Total applications enrolled: 1,69,61,521
* Total claims calculated: ₹2,417.43 Crore
* Total claims paid: ₹2,359.28 Crore
* Total claims pending: ₹58.14 Crore
* **Measures for Transparency and Timely Settlement:**
* Development of the National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) for data management, coordination, and direct online enrollment of farmers.
* Operationalization of the 'Digiclaim Module' for claim payments from Kharif 2022, integrating NCIP with Public Finance Management System (PFMS).
* Delinking of Central Government share of premium subsidy from State Government's.
* Automatic calculation of 12% penalty for delayed payments by insurance companies via NCIP (w.e.f. Kharif 2024) and a similar penalty for State Government delays.
* Initiation of tranche-based claims settlement from 2025-26.
* Utilization of CCE-Agri App and integration of State land records with NCIP for improved yield data capture.
* **Technologies for Crop Damage & Loss Assessment (w.e.f. 2023-24):**
* YES-TECH (Yield Estimation System Based on Technology) for remote-sensing based yield estimation (paddy & wheat from Kharif 2023, Soybean from Kharif 2024).
* WINDS (Weather Information Network and Data System) for hyper-local weather data collection and integration with a national database.
* **Grievance Redressal Mechanism:**
* Stratified Grievance Redressal Mechanism including District Level (DGRC) and State Level (SGRC) Grievance Redressal Committees.
* Development of Krishi Rakshak Portal and Helpline (KRPH) with a toll-free number (14447) for farmers to raise grievances.
* Regular monitoring of insurance companies through video conferences and review conferences.
**Impact Analysis**
**Stakeholder: Farmers**
* **Impact:** More transparent and timely claim settlements, improved grievance redressal mechanisms, and access to technology-driven yield estimation.
* **Action Required:** Utilize Krishi Rakshak Portal and Helpline (14447) for grievances; engage with District and State Level Grievance Redressal Committees; Enroll directly online and ensure correct bank details are provided for direct transfer of claim amounts.
**Stakeholder: State Governments**
* **Impact:** Need to ensure timely submission of yield data, provision of subsidy share, and potential penalty for delays in subsidy payments.
* **Action Required:** Ensure timely submission of accurate yield data, streamline subsidy disbursement processes, and cooperate with insurance companies in resolving disputes.
**Stakeholder: Insurance Companies**
* **Impact:** Increased transparency, potential penalties for delayed payments, and enhanced monitoring of claim settlements.
* **Action Required:** Settle claims within stipulated timelines, comply with data submission requirements, and participate in monitoring activities.
**Stakeholder: Central Government (Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare)**
* **Impact:** Responsible for monitoring scheme implementation, ensuring transparency, and resolving issues related to claim settlements.
* **Action Required:** Continue to monitor scheme performance, address identified gaps in claim settlements, and promote awareness of grievance redressal mechanisms.
Key Entities Referenced
Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY): A crop insurance scheme to provide insurance coverage and financial support to farmers in the event of failure of any of the notified crop as a result of natural calamities, pests & diseases.
Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare: The Indian government ministry responsible for agriculture and farmers' welfare.
National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP): A single source of data ensuring subsidy payment, co-ordination, transparency, dissemination of information and delivery of services related to crop insurance.
Tamil Nadu: Indian state where discrepancies in the payment of crop insurance claims were reported under PMFBY.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2677
TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 16TH DECEMBER, 2025
DISCREPANCIES IN THE PAYMENT OF CROP INSURANCE CLAIMS
2677. DR. KALANIDHI VEERASWAMY:
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 the Government has received reports of discrepancies and delays in the
payment of crop insurance claim amounts under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana
(PMFBY) and other crop insurance schemes;
(b) if so, the details thereof including the number of affected farmers and total pending
claims,within Tamil Nadu during the last three years;
(c) whether the Government has identified the causes for such discrepancies, if so, the
details thereof;
(d) whether the farmers continue to face delayed or reduced claim settlements, while
insurance companies report rising profits; and
(e) whether the Government has taken any action against insurance companies or
implementing agencies, if so, the details thereof?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE FOR AGRICULTURE AND FARMERS WELFARE
कृ(cid:874)ष एवं (cid:873)कसान क(cid:227)याण रा(cid:207)य मं(cid:287)ी (SHRI RAMNATH THAKUR)
(a) to (e) : 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.Details of claims calculated, Claims paid and pending during last three years i.e. from
2022-23 to 2024-25 in Tamil Nadu under PMFBY are given below :
Year Application Claims Paid Pending
Enrolled Calculated Claims Claims
(In No.) (Rs. In Crore)
2022-23 61,37,961 920.65 917.61 3.04
2023-24 54,56,594 763.83 761.57 2.26
2024-25 53,66,966 732.96 680.11 52.85
Total 1,69,61,521 2,417.43 2,359.28 58.14
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 the
good 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.
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 & 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.
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