Flipkart is now looking to sell insurance on its website

Insurance policies at the side of shoes and apparel. Here is how Flipkart is trying to crank the competition in the e-commerce space up one more notch.

The company has also sought approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA). Image Source: Flipkart website/ File photo

Key Highlights

Flipkart's RoC filing revealed it is looking to sell insurance on its site.

The company has sought approval from IRDA.

Financial Technology market is estimated to touch $2.4 billion in India by 2020.

From e-commerce marketplace to selling insurance, homegrown Flipkart is trying to take its services one step further, the company’s filing with Registrar of Companies revealed on Friday.

The e-commerce firm is planning to introduce insurance as a product on its website, selling plans on behalf of insurers, a report by Inc 42 said.

“The company intends to venture into the new line of business viz. solicitation and servicing of insurance policies by acting as a Corporate Agent. In this regard, the company is required to alter its objects clause in order to align its main objects clause in line with the new line of business the company proposes to undertake,” it said.

In addition to this, the company has also sought approval from the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), governing body of the insurance industry in India.

The Financial Technology market is estimated to touch $2.4 billion in the next three years, as per KPMG data.

Flipkart now wants a slice of this billion dollar pie.

As per IRDA guidelines, a corporate agent can sell insurance policies in sectors such as general, life and health individually or in a combination of two or three services.

Reports of Flipkart wanting to sell insurance on its site surfaced in June, wherein speculations arose that the e-commerce player had a team in place to handle sale of financial services as well.

Another report by Bloomberg Quint quoted the company which said it would offer end-to-end transactions—discovery, payment, delivery and post-sales services—on the platform but won’t itself act as an insurer or an underwriter.

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