Delhi High Court junks PIL to share policy docs with holders of PM Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana

The Delhi High Court on Monday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) petition that called for directions to ensure that all insurance policy documents were handed over to those insured under the Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana (PMJJBY) [Aakash Goel vs Union of India & Ors.].

The petitioner had argued that insurance benefits under the scheme were going unclaimed because nominees or families of deceased policyholders were not aware that the deceased person was insured.

The Bench of Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela, however, were not persuaded.

"The PIL is based on presumptions or assumptions that the family members are not aware and that no policy documents have been provided. Petitioner is daydreaming, putting it mildly," the Court orally observed.

The Court reiterated that insurance policies were private contracts, adding that it was not appropriate to deal with issues arising out of such contracts through a PIL.

“You can’t be a guardian in rem. There are too many .... you are coming through a PIL, which is a dangerous route. It could lead to scams,” the Court observed before dismissing the PIL.

Under the PMJJBY, if any policyholder between 18-55 years passes away, his/ her nominees/family members will be entitled to compensation of ₹2 lakhs.

The plea before the Court had highlighted that while the PMJJBY insurance scheme was introduced by the Central government in 2015, only one-third of possible claimants have been paid the compensation of ₹2 lakhs.

Two-thirds of claimants (nominees of family members of deceased policyholders) may not have claimed these benefits because they may not be aware of the deceased being insured under the scheme, the petitioner said. The Central government also makes no effort to approach them, he submitted.

The petitioner added that Regulation 8(1) of the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Protection of Policyholders' Interests) Regulations, 2017 mandates that all the insurance companies must provide the policy documents to all the policyholders.

There is, therefore, a statutory duty on the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) to provide policy documents when someone enrols for insurance under the PMJJBY, the petition said.

Further, the petitioner also noted the Union Ministry of Home Affairs has complete statistical data on deaths in India. If such information is provided to the Department of Financial Services (DFS) and the LIC, it would help family members or nominees of deceased policyholders to make the insurance claim.

These steps would also curtail insurance fraud, the petition filed through Advocate Anuj Aggawaral said.