PhonePe gets insurance brokerage licence from IRDAI

BENGALURU: Walmart-backed PhonePe, which forayed into the online insurance industry last year, said that it has received the brokerage license from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI).

With the license approval, PhonePe will compete with the likes of Paytm, Policy Bazaar, which have consolidated their position in the insurtech sector. PhonePe entered the insurtech sector with a limited ‘corporate agent’ license, which restricted the company to partnering with only three insurance companies per category. Now, with this new ‘direct broking’ licence, PhonePe can distribute products from all insurance companies in India, the company said.

The licence will allow the payments major to offer general and life insurance products. It also allows PhonePe to offer personalised product recommendations to its 300+ million users, and a much more diverse portfolio of insurance products.

“This license is a big milestone in our  insurance journey. PhonePe is India’s fastest growing Insurtech company and this move to broking will give us further momentum and accelerate our growth in this space. We are building a robust, full-service platform for our deeply engaged customer base through innovative products in partnership with high quality insurers. This move will lead us closer to our goal of becoming a one-stop destination for all the insurance needs of our customers,” Gunjan Ghai, Vice President & Head of Insurance at PhonePe, said.