Before filing a complaint with the Insurance Ombudsman, I'd like to know the odds. How many complaints are filed, how many reach a hearing, and what share of awards go in the complainant's favour?
1 Answers
Filed an RTI with the Office of the Insurance Ombudsman, Delhi, asking for basic statistics on how they handle complaints, volumes, hearings, awards and timelines. Got a reply this week. Posting the numbers here since I think they're useful for anyone who has a complaint pending with an Ombudsman office or is thinking about filing one. No commentary, just the Q&A as given.
Complaints received
- FY 2024-25: 3,665
- FY 2025-26: 4,686
- No separate record is maintained of how many were filed online vs offline.
Closed without any hearing or award
- FY 2024-25: 1,007
- FY 2025-26: 627
Hearings conducted
- FY 2024-25: 3,038
- FY 2025-26: 3,068
- No data available on how many were online (video conferencing) vs in-person.
Awards passed, and who they favoured
- FY 2024-25: 644 total awards; 79 in favour of the complainant, 565 in favour of the insurer (roughly 12% complainant-favourable)
- FY 2025-26: 795 total awards; 139 in favour of the complainant, 656 in favour of the insurer (roughly 17% complainant-favourable)
Average time from filing to hearing, and hearing to award
- Refused. The reply states this "is not available hence unable to provide as per section 2(f) of the RTI Act, 2005."
Complaints closed for non-submission of documents by the complainant
- Refused under the same Section 2(f) ground: "not available."
Complaints with duplicate registration numbers for the same underlying complaint
- Refused under the same Section 2(f) ground: "not available."
Awards passed beyond the 3-month timeline prescribed under Rule 17(4) of the Insurance Ombudsman Rules, 2017
- "No data available" for either year.
If you want to read more, I'm documenting everything on BimaFiles
