Insurance web aggregator

What is an insurance web aggregator?

An insurance web aggregator is an intermediary whose business is to display and compare insurance products from different insurers on its own website, collect enquiries from people who use it, and pass those enquiries (leads) to the insurers. Web aggregators may also complete the sale online, by telephone through trained staff, or by servicing tasks outsourced to them by insurers. They must be registered with IRDAI and may not run other businesses alongside.

Comparison websites were the first large-scale online channel for insurance in India. Several businesses that began as web aggregators later added a broking licence so that they could advise customers and handle a wider range of products, which is why the two licences are often seen together.

How web aggregation works in India

The governing rules are the IRDAI (Insurance Web Aggregators) Regulations, 2017.

• Who can apply. A company or an LLP (without a non-resident partner) whose principal business is web aggregation. It cannot act as any other intermediary or enter referral arrangements with insurers.
• Capital. Minimum paid-up capital of ₹25 lakh, with net worth kept at no less than that amount.
• Website rules. Comparisons must follow the display conditions in the regulations. The aggregator shows the list of insurers it has agreements with and must not promote one insurer's products over another or host a single insurer's advertisements.
• Leads. Leads go to insurers under a written agreement. Under the 2017 rules, no charge is paid merely for passing a lead; remuneration arises when a lead turns into a policy.
• Telemarketing and outsourcing. With IRDAI permission, the aggregator can sell through telemarketing and distance marketing using authorised verifiers, and can perform permitted outsourced services for insurers for a fee.
• No inducements. Rebates, discounts or gifts to customers are prohibited.

Commission for web aggregators, like other intermediaries, is now paid under each insurer's board-approved policy within the IRDAI (Expenses of Management, including Commission, of Insurers) Regulations, 2024.

2026 changes. The IRDAI (Insurance Intermediaries) (Amendment) Regulations, 2026 ended three-year renewals. Registration now continues while the annual fee is paid (the higher of ₹10,000 or 0.04% of commission and other receipts from insurers). Existing aggregators must apply for a fresh certificate before 31 January 2027. The principal officer and all authorised verifiers must complete at least 25 hours of training every three years. From 1 January 2027 every policy sold through the aggregator must name the authorised verifier or other person who sold it, or, for a fully self-service online purchase, show the principal officer's phone number and email.

What a web aggregator means for distribution

• Aggregators shape price discovery. In motor, health and term insurance, customers often see an insurer for the first time on a comparison page. Insurers manage their aggregator presence the way retailers manage marketplace listings: price position, product features shown, claim and service ratings, and how fast the policy is issued.
• Online sales can be assisted. An aggregator sale may involve a phone call or chat with an authorised verifier before payment. Quality of these calls, and what was disclosed in them, is now traceable to the individual through seller tagging.
• The economics are under review. IRDAI's consultation paper of September 2026 proposes product-level commission caps that are lower for open architecture entities, all-inclusive definitions of commission that capture display, branding and other indirect payments, and cost audits for larger distribution entities. It also treats Bima Sugam as the first market infrastructure institution, a platform with a transparent fee well below current commission rates. Moneylife reported that shares of PB Fintech, which runs Policybazaar, fell 36% on 24 September 2026, the day after the paper was released.
• Dark patterns are in scope. The paper proposes treating access to product and price information only after a customer hands over personal details as a dark pattern. Lead capture journeys built on that model may need redesign.
• Leads are not sales. For insurers, the measure that matters is policies issued and persisting from aggregator traffic, not leads received. Insurers can track aggregator business on 13th month persistency and claims experience by source.

Web aggregator vs broker vs Bima Sugam