HDFC Ergo launches country's first drone cover

The third largest private sector general insurer, HDFC Ergo tied up with tech firm Tropogo, in an industry-first initiative, to provide commercial drone owners and operators third-party liability cover for property damages and physical injuries from the flying machines. This policy will be offered on-demand to customers based on a 'pay as you fly' concept, the insurer said in a statement.

Third-party insurance liability claim is compulsory for drone operations in the country.

Drones are used by various government bodies and especially police in their fight against the coronavirus pandemic which has killed over 9,500 people in the country so far and more than 3.32 lakh people are infected so far. Globally, more than 4.3 lakh lives have been lost and close to 80 lakh are infected.

Mr Ritesh Kumar, the managing director of HDFC Ergo General Insurance said as "drones are being used in outdoor commercial activities, operational mistakes and equipment failures may cause damages to third parties. Considering this we are launching this cover under our aviation insurance, which is a first in the industry, to safeguard drone owners and pilots from any third-party liability while flying a drone commercially."

Police used drones to implement lockdowns as they are efficient and beneficial for public surveillance, crowd monitoring and in certain areas even for delivery of essentials like medicines.

Mr Sandipan Sen, founder of Tropogo said third-party insurance is mandatory for drone operations, and there has been a demand from the drone operators for insurance.

"Unfortunately, until now, no insurer offers such a cover and the flexibility to buy the policy through a digital platform. We identified this as the problem statement and partnered with HDFC Ergo to offer the country's first on-demand pay-as-you-fly third-party liability cover for drone owners and operators," he added.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.