Flipkart is entering the insurance business by covering the smartphones it sells

• Flipkart is partnering with Bajaj Allianz to offer protection plans on smartphones, its most popular product category.
  
• Starting 10 October, the first day of Big Billion Days sale, customers purchasing smartphones on the platform will be given the option for signing up for an insurance plan.
  
• The move marks the e-commerce company’s entry into the insurance segment as competitors Amazon and Paytm also prepare to offer their own insurance solutions to customers.

Flipkart is pulling out all the stops for its upcoming Big Billion Days festive sale. After securing a corporate agent license from the IRDAI, India’s insurance regulator, India’s largest e-commerce platform is partnering with Bajaj Allianz’s general insurance arm to offer insurance plans on smartphones it sells.

Starting 10 October, the first day of the festive sale, customers purchasing smartphones on the platform will be given the option for signing up for a protection plan. In the event that they lose or damage their phones, they can benefit from a reimbursement or free servicing.

Pricing for plans, which will be operational from the day of delivery, start at ₹99/year for the lower-priced smartphones. Customers will not have to deal with Bajaj Allianz when it comes to processing claims. In fact, the entire claims process will be facilitated through the Flipkart website or app.

The timing is momentous. Around 20 million Indians are expected to tune into the annual e-commerce sales extravaganza this Diwali. Onboarding just a fraction of them to the smartphone insurance plan will be a great start.

The move marks the e-commerce company’s entry into the insurance segment as competitors Amazon and Paytm also prepare to offer their own insurance solutions to customers.

Flipkart is starting with the coverage of smartphones because it derives a bulk of its sales from this segment. It plans to expand into other higher-value segments in due time. It also plans to start offering life and general insurance policies to customers in the near future.

Last month, Flipkart also started offering credit solutions to customers through its cardless credit scheme. Now, customers can avail of a credit line of upto ₹60,000 and pay for products through monthly installments. The programme is expected to turn one-time shoppers into more frequent buyers. While the loans are being underwritten by banking partners, Flipkart plans to underwrite the loans itself when it secures a non-banking financial company license.