You have been in the job for a little over three months. What are your long-term plans for the company?
HDFC Ergo’s strategy is not dependent on an individual but on a collective belief in building a long-term institution that serves Indian citizens at large. Our strategy of profitable growth, winning customers’ trust, and preparing the company for the future remains absolutely consistent.
What has not changed is our customer focus. We remain committed to offering the best products and fair customer service. This is visible in our performance even over these three months. We are growing at almost twice the industry’s pace. We have recorded 55 per cent growth in motor insurance and over 48 per cent growth in retail health insurance. What has changed is the urgency with which we are executing these priorities and accelerating our development.
Which lines of business will be your biggest focus going forward?
Our primary focus areas are all retail lines, especially health, home and motor insurance, along with commercial risks, where we have been a consistent player for the past two decades. Retail health is particularly important because it is the fastest-growing segment in the industry and aligns well with our customer-first philosophy. Commercial insurance is in a soft-pricing cycle. Overall, retail lines account for 70 per cent of our business, while commercial and crop insurance contribute the remaining 30 per cent. Our focus is on disciplined risk selection, retaining quality clients and sustainable underwriting. We are not interested in growing premiums at the expense of profitability.
Have you revised the premiums for your retail health insurance policies?
We revised our premiums after nearly two years, based on age-wise pricing and medical inflation. On average, premiums have increased by 8-9 per cent.
You are the fifth-largest private general insurer. How do you plan to increase your market share?
The company is focused on profitable growth rather than market share. We aim to grow the business sustainably and profitably, improve customer experience, increase customer trust and enhance product affordability. An increase in market share may happen naturally, but it is not a specific target.
Amid the growing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in insurance, how is HDFC ERGO using technology and AI in the business?
We invest around 1.5-2 per cent of our topline in technology and follow a disciplined approach by deploying AI only where it creates measurable value, while maintaining a strong focus on profitability and sustainable return on equity (ROE).
We are building digital platforms, AI, machine learning (ML), robotic process automation, generative AI, and agentic AI to enhance customer experience, streamline underwriting, accelerate claims processing, improve operational efficiency, and strengthen fraud detection. While customers remain our strong focus, but we are also enabling our intermediaries to be digitally active. On this point, we have digitally enabled around 25,000 advisors through Google-powered microsites, launched the HERE app to engage customers beyond insurance, and is building AI-driven claims and fraud management platforms.
Growth in the general insurance industry was muted last year. How do you see the outlook?
If India’s economy grows at around 6-7 per cent annually and inflation remains between 3-5 per cent, nominal GDP growth would be approximately 11 per cent. Historically, the general insurance industry has grown 300-400 basis points faster than nominal GDP. Based on this trend, the industry is expected to grow by around 15 per cent annually over the next two to three years.
The RBI’s Financial Stability Report noted that grievances in the general insurance sector have nearly tripled over the past five years. What is your view?
We believe the increase in grievances is largely due to the growing share of retail health insurance, which has historically generated the highest number of complaints. Complaint rates should be analysed segment-wise (motor, retail health, commercial lines and crop) rather than comparing the entire general insurance industry with life insurance. At the same time, we need to be extremely sensitive to customer grievances, as any lapse in service erodes trust in the industry. While the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (Irdai) and the government have taken multiple steps to improve customer experience and service, we, as an organisation, are proactively addressing these issues. This is reflected in our lower grievance and claims rejection rates.
 "Parthanil Ghosh, managing director and chief executive officer, HDFC ERGO")