Claims Settlement Process under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana

Ministry of Agriculture & Farmer’s Welfare, Govt of India has launched the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) with the objective to provide protection to farmers in case of any crop loss due to unforeseen and uncontrollable weather events. The scheme is in operation since 2016 and more than 5 crore farmers are getting enrolled every year but still, there are many farmers who are not aware of the scheme benefits or claims process due to which they are not coming forward to insure their crops. Through this article, the intent is to make the farmers aware of the coverage and benefits of PMFBY and to make them aware of the claims process.

Coverage

The PMFBY provides a comprehensive cover to the crop from sowing to the harvesting stage in case of yield loss due to non-preventable risks, viz. Drought, Dry spells, Flood, Inundation, widespread Pests, and Diseases attack, Landslides, Fire due to natural causes, lightening, Storm, Hailstorm, and Cyclone, etc. The scheme operates on an area approach basis hence all the farmers in an insurance unit get the same benefits in case of crop loss. Besides this there are certainly other benefits of the scheme like;

Prevented Sowing

If the insured area is prevented from sowing/ planting due to deficit rainfall or adverse seasonal conditions and more than 75% of the insurance unit remain unsown, the district authorities may invoke prevented sowing claims. In such cases all insured farmers in the insurance unit may get claims upto 25% of the sum insured.    

Mid-Season Adversity

Loss in case of adverse seasonal conditions during the crop season viz. floods, prolonged dry spells, and severe drought, etc., wherein expected yield during the season is likely to be less than 50% of Normal Yield. This add-on coverage facilitates provision for immediate relief to insured farmers in case of the occurrence of such cases.

Localized Calamities

Loss/damage to notified insured crops resulting from the occurrence of identified localized risks of Hailstorm, Landslide, Inundation, Cloud burst, and Natural fire due to lightening affecting isolated farms in the notified area.

Post-Harvest Losses

Coverage is available only up to a maximum period of two weeks from harvesting, for those crops which are required to be dried in cut and the spread / small bundled condition depending on the requirement of Crops in that area in the field after harvesting against specific perils of Hailstorm, Cyclone, Cyclonic rains, and Unseasonal rains.

How a farmer can get claims?

There are two scenarios in which the claim could be triggered, and a farmer is eligible to get compensation for the crop loss -

I) Wide Spread Calamities: In this case, the insurance company would work out the losses basis the crop yield data provided by the State Govt. The crop yield data is compared with the Threshold Yield (TY) notified for the particular Insurance Unit, if the crop yield is less than the TY, the loss is paid by the insurance company to all the insured farmers. The insurance company would directly settle the claim to the insured at the end of the season and no intimation is required by the farmer. Insurance companies are expected to settle the claims within 21 days of getting crop yield data and Govt subsidy whichever is later.

II) Localized Calamities: In this case, the affected farmers are required to give the intimation to the insurance company with 72 hours of the event. This can either be done via concerned financial institutions i.e bank, tehsil agriculture offices or directly to the insurance company. The company appoints a surveyor to assess the crop loss for the affected farmers and settle the claims within 15 days of intimation, provided the subsidy has been paid by the State as well as Central Govt.

III) Post Harvest Losses: Same as localized calamities, losses under the Post-harvest peril are paid on an individual basis. The affected farmer needs to inform the insurance company within 72 hours of unseasonal or cyclonic rain. The insurance company depute surveyors to assess the crop loss and basis his report settles the claims within 15 days. 

Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company, have launched an android based mobile application “Farmitra” through which a farmer can intimate the claims and also check the status of claims payment on a real-time basis. A brief process to use the Farmitra App is as under 

• A farmer can install the Farmitra App through Googe Play Store and register with his mobile number

• In the claims section, a farmer can check the status of all his application by providing 21digit application IDs or bank account details.

• To intimate the claims, a farmer needs to visit the Claims intimation section. And provide all relevant details like application ID, date of loss, Details of the farm, and damage crop.

• The farmer will have to upload a copy of his ID proof, Bank passbook and photographs of the affected field

• After submission of the information and required documents, the farmer will get an auto-generated claims intimation number, which can be used for all future communications.

The claims intimation through Farmitra hardly takes 7-8 minutes and farmer can do it at his own convenience in his language and at zero cost. For more details Farmers can refer our Youtube Video on the below-mentioned link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEhSqSUFtN4&feature=youtu.be

You can download the Farmitra app by clicking on link https://bit.ly/2FeHGl4