Public Insurance Registry: From tracking policies to improving claim processing, how PIR could benefit policyholders

Keeping track of data and documents related to multiple insurance policies across life, health and motor insurers is nothing short of a logistical nightmare for most policyholders. The proposed Public Insurance Registry (PIR) could change all that—and much more.

In a long-awaited move intended to ease information access and streamline operations across the entire insurance ecosystem, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) released a public consultation paper on 1 September, proposing the setting up of the insurance registry.

Anchored in the Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha (Amendment of Insurance Laws) Act, 2025, the Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) is a population-scale, interoperable system covering the insurance lifecycle, and reducing the information gap by connecting all stakeholders, including insurers, intermediaries, reinsurers, policyholders, financial institutions and the government.

How policyholders benefit

The registry will enable customer-centric processes—provide a platform to compare and track insurance policies, improve claims processing and enhance grievance resolution. “One view of all policies can help customers easily track their insurance, renewals, claims and coverage across different insurers, while easier portability and servicing can reduce repetitive paperwork and make verification smoother,” says Mayank Gosar, CEO, Softcon Capital.

The transparency and market-wide information on insurers and intermediaries could also help enhance accountability. “Today, policyholders struggle to compare products, understand coverages and exclusions, assess the performance of insurers, or know if the seller has a good track record. PIR can make information on products, insurers, intermediaries, claims and grievances more easily available. This can help reduce misselling and enable customers to make more informed choices rather than depending entirely on the intermediaries,” says Shilpa Arora, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, Insurance Samadhan.

Insurers & intermediaries

By making available standardised market-wide information, it could help insurers assess and price risks better. “It can serve as a common information layer among stakeholders, which can reduce information gaps, improve risk assessment and claims management, strengthen fraud detection and enable more informed regulatory and business decisions,” says Tapan Singhel, MD & CEO, Bajaj General Insurance.

More importantly, it could help foster trust among policyholders. “Greater transparency will deepen trust between insurers, intermediaries and policyholders. Reliable, unified data will support more inclusive product design. Improved efficiency should help contain costs, supporting long-term affordability and market sustainability,” says Sarbvir Singh, Joint Group CEO, PB Fintech.

Challenges

Ambitious as the project is, it could face hurdles in execution. “The biggest challenge will be legacy data. Bringing years of data from different insurers into common formats will take time and significant effort,” says Gosar. Importantly, privacy and consent must remain at the centre. “Easier access to information should not mean unrestricted access to customer or insurer data,” adds Gosar.

The consultation paper will be open to feedback and suggestions from the public and stakeholders till 30 September.