IRDAI regulatory sandbox: how to apply for a product pilot

In short

IRDAI's Regulatory Sandbox Regulations, 2025 (notified January 2025) let insurers and others test products with limited relaxations; the fee, form, eligibility and test period are set separately.

Use this checklist if you want IRDAI to relax a rule for a limited time so you can pilot an insurance product or process in India. It follows the IRDAI (Regulatory Sandbox) Regulations, 2025, as published in the Gazette of India on 3 January 2025. They replace the 2019 regulations, so older write-ups that quote the 2019 limits are out of date. The 2025 text leaves several practical details, including the fee, the form and the length of the test, to be "specified" by IRDAI. Where it does so, this page says so rather than guessing.

1. Check that you can apply

[ ] You are an insurer, or an intermediary or insurance intermediary, or a person other than an individual that meets a minimum net-worth set by IRDAI, or another person IRDAI specifies. An individual cannot apply on their own. Joint applications are allowed.
[ ] Get IRDAI's current eligibility criteria and net-worth figure. The regulations let the Competent Authority set them; the text itself gives no amount.
[ ] Note who decides: the Competent Authority is the Chairperson, or the Whole-Time Member, committee or officers the Chairperson names.

2. Check that your idea fits the scope

[ ] Your pilot sits somewhere on the insurance value chain and needs a relaxation of an IRDAI regulation, notification, master circular, guideline or circular.
[ ] It does not ask for relief on capital, liquidity, investment, solvency or reserving. The regulations exclude prudential and financial stability matters.
[ ] It does not need relief from the Insurance Act, 1938, the IRDA Act, 1999 or any other statute. The regulations say no relaxation is granted from those.
[ ] Your plan complies with the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023. Permission is conditional on it.
[ ] If it also involves another financial regulator, expect a separate inter-regulatory process, which IRDAI sets.

3. Build the case

IRDAI grants permission only if you meet its eligibility criteria and the proposal does two things. It must promote innovation beneficial to the insurance sector in India. And it must also be in policyholders' interest, or conducive to orderly growth of the industry, or raise insurance penetration, or bring efficiency to insurance business, or ease doing insurance business.

[ ] State the innovation in one paragraph: what is new, and for whom.
[ ] List each rule you need relaxed, by name, and why the pilot cannot run without it.
[ ] Name which of the benefit tests you meet and the evidence for each.
[ ] Say how policyholders are protected during the test, since their feedback goes in your final report.
[ ] Decide how you will measure whether the pilot met its objectives.

4. File the application

[ ] Apply to the Competent Authority electronically, in the form IRDAI specifies.
[ ] Attach the non-refundable fee IRDAI specifies. Ask IRDAI for the current amount.
[ ] Expect IRDAI to set the parameters of the experiment stage and your liabilities and responsibilities. The permission is valid only for an experiment period "as specified".
[ ] Remember the Competent Authority's decision on granting permission is final.

5. Run the pilot under the conditions

[ ] Keep your systems' integrity and policyholder data confidential at all times.
[ ] Set up your own review, monitoring and evaluation of controls, systems and safeguards.
[ ] Tell the Competent Authority at once if you deviate from the approved proposal.
[ ] Accept that you carry the liability for customer and business risks during the test. IRDAI states it is not responsible for them.
[ ] Expect IRDAI to review progress through its single point of contact and to be able to call for, inspect or investigate any document, record or communication.
[ ] Know that permission can be revoked if you fail the grant conditions or break the law, after you are heard, and can be suspended if operations are against the interest of the market or policyholders.

6. Extension, exit and clean-up

[ ] If you need more time, ask at the end of the experiment period with reasons and an analysis of performance so far. IRDAI considers it on merit. The text allows no further extension beyond the time specified.
[ ] Within 30 days of the allotted period ending, file a report on how the pilot met its objectives, with policyholder feedback, and a plan for moving the product into the normal rules.
[ ] If you want to stop early, ask at least one month in advance.
[ ] If objectives were met, IRDAI may let you continue under the regular framework; if not, you may be told to discontinue.
[ ] Erase all personal data of participants and confirm that to IRDAI in writing.

What I could not confirm

I could not find, on the sources I opened, the current fee, the application form, the minimum net-worth, the length of the experiment period or whether IRDAI runs application windows. The regulations leave each of these to IRDAI. Ask IRDAI's sandbox contact or check its website before planning dates. The regulations are due for review every three years from publication. This page is general information; talk to a lawyer or a compliance professional before filing.

Questions people ask

Can a startup that is not an insurer apply?

Yes, if it is an intermediary or a non-individual person with the minimum net-worth IRDAI sets, or another person IRDAI specifies. The regulations do not give the net-worth figure.

Does the sandbox waive capital or solvency rules?

No. Capital, liquidity, investment, solvency and reserving are outside the scope, and no relaxation is given from the Insurance Act or the IRDA Act.

How long can the pilot run?

The permission is valid for an experiment period that IRDAI specifies. The text allows one extension request at the end and no further extension beyond that.

What happens when the pilot ends?

You file a report within 30 days, erase participants' personal data, and IRDAI decides whether you may continue under the regular framework or must stop.