Sahaj Insurance Services Pvt. Ltd., a subsidiary of Sahaj Retail Ltd under the Kanoria Foundation, has secured a corporate agency licence from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) and has set a first-year target of distributing about 10 crore (100 million) insurance policies, mainly in rural India. The move comes as IRDAI prepares to tighten rural business obligations for insurers, a regulatory change that is expected to influence business models and distribution strategies across the market.
According to a report by the Economic Times, Sahaj Insurance will operate as an insurance distribution vertical built on top of Sahaj Retail’s existing digital services network. The group runs about 450,000 digitally enabled rural service centres that it says reach more than 700 million people across several states, including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, the North East and Odisha. These centres are operated by Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs), known as Sahaj Mitrs, who already facilitate services such as e-governance enrolment, digital payments, and mobile-based banking. The same local operators will now handle insurance sales and servicing, using an assisted digital approach aimed at customers who may have limited experience with formal financial products.
According to the company, Sahaj centres will distribute policies developed with multiple insurers, covering life, health, personal accident, crop, livestock, and micro-insurance. The offerings are structured for agrarian and informal-sector households, where income flows and risk exposures differ from urban, salaried segments. “Customers will be able to access assisted digital enrolment, paperless processes, multi-lingual support, and help with filing claims. These features are essential for first-time insurance adopters in rural markets. The services will also integrate government-backed insurance and social-security schemes to deepen financial inclusion,” said Sahaj Retail Ltd CEO Biswajit Chatterjee, as reported by The Economic Times. Chatterjee said Sahaj Insurance plans to sell about 10 crore policies in its first year of operation, focusing on helping rural families manage health events, weather, and crop risks, and other shocks that can affect household finances.
Sahaj’s expansion is taking place alongside a change in India’s rules on rural outreach. At its 132nd board meeting, IRDAI decided to increase the rural business obligation for both life and general insurers to 15% for fiscal years 2025-26 and 2026-27, up from 10%, according to a report by ET Now. There will be no change in the social sector and motor third-party obligations, which remain at 10%. Under the revised framework, insurers will collectively be required to extend coverage to at least 25,000 new gram panchayats in FY26. General insurers will also need to bring a minimum of 15% of currently uninsured shops and dwellings in those areas under cover.
An insurance industry official said the higher requirement may add to compliance pressures. “There is pressure on IRDAI from the government to increase insurance penetration in rural areas, but insurers are already struggling to meet the existing 10% rural obligation. Raising it to 15% will be challenging due to disinterest from local officials and on-ground hurdles in coverage. This will likely lead to compliance issues, and companies may end up paying penalties,” the official said, as reported by ET Now. To expand protection for low-income and vulnerable groups, beneficiaries of government welfare schemes will be counted under the social sector obligation, which could shape product design and participation in mass schemes.
