New Irdai platform casts a shadow over PolicyBazaar

Bima Sugam may kick off with cheaper premiums, and access to data from diverse sources

- Anirudh Laskar

Top insurance aggregator PolicyBazaar is facing an unexpected challenge from the upcoming launch of Bima Sugam, a similar platform being built by India’s insurance regulator, the heads of five insurance companies said.

The Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India’s (Irdai) Bima Sugam is likely to be launched in a few months, the head of one of India’s largest life insurers said, adding the platform may offer insurance products at 10-15% cheaper premiums.

“Bima Sugam’s entry may potentially snatch PolicyBazaar’s market share, hurting its revenue, profitability and stock price severely in the next two years, which in turn will make PolicyBazaar’s business model completely unviable," said the person cited above.

Founded by Yashish Dahiya and Alok Bansal, PolicyBazaar commands at least a fourth of the insurance aggregator market. The arrival of Bima Sugam—meaning “Insurance Easy"—comes two years after PolicyBazaar’s owner parent PB Fintech Ltd, backed by Info Edge and Japan’s SoftBank, got listed on the stock exchanges. Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank holds 4.39%, China’s Tencent 6.28% and Info Edge holds 17.5% in PB Fintech, while Claymore Investments (Mauritius) Pte. Ltd, a subsidiary of Singapore’s Temasek Holdings, own 5.43%.