How to apply for Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana — complete 2026 guide

For Kharif 2025, around 5.5 crore farmer applications were enrolled under PMFBY (Ministry of Agriculture data, January 2026). Of the claims processed, an estimated 2.1 lakh got stuck in the post-survey / pay-out batch queue without any visible reason on the farmer-facing portal. Most were unblocked either by district-level Grievance Committee meetings or by single-page RTIs to the implementing insurer.

The Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana was launched on 18 February 2016 (replacing earlier MNAIS and NAIS schemes) and revamped in 2020 (PMFBY 2.0) to make enrolment voluntary for loanee farmers as well. It is administered by the Department of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare under the PMFBY Operational Guidelines read with the Insurance Act 1938 and the IRDAI cluster-tender framework.

You can enrol if:

• You are a farmer — owner-cultivator, sharecropper, or tenant — growing a notified crop in a notified area for that season.
• You hold a valid land record (Khata / Khasra / Pahani / 7-12 / RoR) OR a registered tenancy / sharecropping agreement (state rules vary — Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Odisha allow tenancy declarations).
• You have a bank account linked to Aadhaar (mandatory since Kharif 2017).
• Your crop and area are notified by the State Government for that specific season under PMFBY.

PMFBY is voluntary — even if you have a Kisan Credit Card loan, you can opt out by submitting Form-IB to your branch at least 7 days before the cut-off date.

The scheme covers:

• Yield losses (the main risk — assessed via Crop Cutting Experiments, CCEs).
• Prevented sowing (when adverse weather prevents sowing despite intent).
• Localised calamities — hailstorm, landslide, inundation, cloudburst, natural fire (assessed at individual farm level).
• Mid-season adversity (drought, dry spell, flood — partial pay-out at 25% of likely claim).
• Post-harvest losses for cut-and-spread crops up to 14 days, against cyclone, unseasonal rain, hailstorm.

Each State Government issues a PMFBY Notification before the season begins, listing:

• Crops covered (e.g., paddy, cotton, maize, soybean, sugarcane, chillies).
• Insurance Unit (Village / Gram Panchayat for major crops, Block / Taluk for minor).
• Sum Insured per hectare (linked to the Scale of Finance decided by the District Level Technical Committee).
• Implementing insurer for that cluster — could be Agriculture Insurance Company of India (AIC), ICICI Lombard, HDFC ERGO, Reliance General, IFFCO Tokio, Bajaj Allianz or others, depending on the cluster tender for that season.
• Cut-off date for enrolment.

Find the notification at https://pmfby.gov.in → “Notifications” → choose State / Season / Year. Or visit your Block Agriculture Office for a printed copy in the local language.

Three official routes:

• Bank route (best for KCC / loanee farmers): Visit the financing branch. Premium is auto-debited from KCC account. Bank uploads enrolment to the National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP).
• CSC route (best for non-loanee small farmers): Walk into any Common Service Centre with land record + Aadhaar + bank passbook. CSC operator enrols you for a service fee of ₹40 per farmer per crop per season (paid by Government to CSC SPV; the farmer pays only the premium).
• Portal route (best for tech-comfortable farmers): Self-enrol at https://pmfby.gov.in → “Farmer Corner” → “Apply for Crop Insurance Yourself”.

• Aadhaar card (mandatory; Aadhaar-seeded bank account essential).
• Bank passbook / cancelled cheque (front page, IFSC visible).
• Land record — Khasra / Khata / Pahani / 7-12 extract / RoR / Patta — current year, downloadable from the State land-records portal.
• Sowing certificate / declaration — a self-declaration on plain paper, countersigned by Patwari / VAO / Krishi Sahayak.
• Tenant farmers — registered tenancy agreement (or, where allowed, the State-prescribed tenancy declaration like Telangana's Loan Eligibility Card or Odisha's land-possession certificate).
• Mobile number (for SMS confirmation and damage intimation).

• Sum Insured (SI) per hectare = Scale of Finance for that crop in that district × area in hectares.
• Farmer's share of premium:
  • 1.5% of SI for Rabi food and oilseed crops.
  • 2% of SI for Kharif food and oilseed crops (technically 2%, but most state notifications cap the farmer share at this — the original 1.5% remains for some states under bilateral subsidy split).
  • 5% of SI for commercial / horticulture crops (cotton, sugarcane, chillies, banana, mango etc.).

The balance premium (often 15-30% of SI for high-risk crops) is subsidised by Centre and State, 50:50 (90:10 for North-East and hilly states).

• The bank / CSC operator generates a unique Application ID and Policy Number on NCIP.
• You receive an SMS confirmation within 24-48 hours from “PMFBYP” sender ID, listing crop, area, SI, premium paid, and insurer name.
• Save this SMS. Without the policy number, future damage intimation and claim follow-up become painful.
• Print a copy of the policy certificate from pmfby.gov.in → “Farmer Corner” → “Application Status” using your mobile number.

This is the single most common reason genuine claims fail. The 72-hour rule under PMFBY Operational Guidelines applies to localised calamities (hailstorm, landslide, inundation, cloudburst, fire) and post-harvest losses.

You can intimate via any of these:

• Toll-free 14447 (PMFBY universal helpline).
• Insurer-specific toll-free (printed on your SMS / policy certificate).
• Crop Insurance App (Android — search “Crop Insurance” by Govt of India).
• Your financing bank branch (they file on NCIP).
• Local agriculture officer (block-level KVK / ATMA office).

Note down the Docket Number / Intimation Number — you will need it for every escalation.

The insurer must dispatch a surveyor (often empanelled as M/s XYZ Surveyors) within 48 hours of intimation for individual farm losses. Joint survey is conducted in presence of:

• The farmer.
• Insurer's surveyor.
• State Government representative (Patwari / Agriculture Assistant).

Sign the survey report only after physically reading the loss percentage. Take photos with your phone (date-stamped).

For yield-based claims, settlement is auto-triggered after the State uploads CCE-based yield data on NCIP at the end of the crop season — usually 3-6 months after harvest. For localised calamity claims, the insurer must pay within 15 days of receiving the survey report and yield data.

• Track at https://pmfby.gov.in → “Application Status” → enter mobile / Application ID.
• Money lands in your Aadhaar-linked PMFBY-enrolled bank account (not necessarily the same as your KCC account — verify on the SMS confirmation).

+------------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Kharif food / oilseed crops  | Farmer pays 1.5%-2% of Sum Insured.         |
| (paddy, maize, jowar, bajra, | Cut-off: usually 31 July (state-notified).  |
| soybean, groundnut, tur)     | Settlement: 3-6 months post-harvest.        |
+------------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Rabi food / oilseed crops    | Farmer pays 1.5% of Sum Insured.            |
| (wheat, barley, mustard,     | Cut-off: usually 31 December.               |
| gram, lentil)                | Settlement: 3-6 months post-harvest.        |
+------------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Annual commercial /          | Farmer pays 5% of Sum Insured.              |
| horticulture (cotton, cane,  | Cut-off: state-notified per crop.           |
| chillies, banana, mango,     | Settlement: 3-6 months post end of risk.    |
| onion, potato)               |                                             |
+------------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Localised calamity claim     | Intimate within 72 hours.                   |
| (hailstorm/inundation/fire)  | Joint survey within 48 hrs of intimation.   |
|                              | Pay-out within 15 days of survey report.    |
+------------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Prevented sowing             | If <75% of normal area sown — 25% of SI     |
|                              | as advance, finalised after season.         |
+------------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| Mid-season adversity         | 25% of likely claim as on-account pay-out.  |
+------------------------------+---------------------------------------------+
| RTI for claim delay (PIO of  | ₹10 by IPO. BPL = free.                     |
| insurer / SAO)               |                                             |
+------------------------------+---------------------------------------------+

• Aadhaar-bank link mismatch. Your enrolment shows Aadhaar A but bank account is linked to Aadhaar B (or unlinked) — claim “issued” by insurer but bounces back. NPCI mapper has to be re-seeded by your bank.
• Wrong land record — Khasra number entered does not match revenue record post mutation; insurer marks the application “land verification failed”.
• Crop changed at sowing time but bank didn't re-update. You enrolled for paddy, sowed cotton — at CCE stage, yield data does not match; claim rejected. Submit a “crop change” intimation to your bank within 30 days of sowing.
• Missed 72-hour intimation window for localised calamity. The insurer rejects the claim on this single ground despite genuine damage.
• Joint survey not conducted on time but insurer relies on satellite / smart sampling — farmer's actual loss not captured. Insist on physical joint survey before signing anything.
• Yield data dispute — State CCEs show normal yield in your village while your farm was wiped out. Yield is an insurance unit average, so individual variance is not compensated under yield-based claim — you must rely on localised calamity intimation if your farm-level loss differs.
• Bank uploaded stale Application ID to NCIP — you appear unenrolled despite premium debit. Ask for the NCIP Acknowledgement Receipt (PDF with QR code).
• Pay-out batch queue — claim approved but stuck in insurer's payment cycle; this is exactly where Harpreet's RTI moved the file in 6 days.

• PMFBY universal helpline: 14447 (8 am – 8 pm).
• Insurer's own helpline (printed on your policy SMS).
• Quote your Application ID + intimation docket number.
• Best for: status of survey, expected pay-out date, document gaps.

• The DLMC is chaired by the District Collector and meets monthly during claim season.
• Submit a written representation to the Joint Director / Deputy Director Agriculture of your district.
• They escalate stuck cases en bloc to the implementing insurer.

• Each state has a PMFBY State Coordinator in the Agriculture Department.
• For Punjab — Director of Agriculture, SCO 85-88, Sector 17, Chandigarh; PMFBY desk.
• Lodge grievance through the Crop Insurance App → “Grievance” tab — auto-routed to State + Insurer.

• https://pgportal.gov.in → Ministry “Agriculture & Farmers Welfare” → “Crop Insurance”.
• 30-day SLA. Useful trail. Often gets a reply from the joint secretary's PMFBY cell.

The implementing insurer (whether AIC of India — fully public, or a private insurer participating in PMFBY) is, in respect of its PMFBY work, treated as carrying out a public function for substantial government funding — the CIC has consistently held private insurers under PMFBY answerable under §2(h)(d)(ii) of the RTI Act 2005 for scheme-related queries. The State Agriculture Department is also a public authority.

RTI helps here when:

• Your claim shows “approved” but no money has landed for over 30 days — RTI to PIO of insurer's regional office gets the batch number, surveyor's report, and reason for hold (Harpreet's case).
• Your claim is rejected as “no loss” but you have photos / patwari report to the contrary — RTI for the CCE yield data and surveyor's individual report for your survey number.
• Your enrolment shows missing on NCIP despite premium debit — RTI to PIO of your bank for the NCIP Acknowledgement Receipt.
• The State has not paid its premium subsidy share, holding up insurer pay-out — RTI to State Agriculture Department for the subsidy release order.
• You want the inspection report of the CCE conducted in your insurance unit — RTI to District Statistical Officer / Agriculture.

See the dedicated guide: RTI for fasal bima claim delay — copy-ready template.

RTI does NOT help here when:

• You enrolled this season and just want to know if the policy is “active” — wait 5-7 days for SMS confirmation, then check pmfby.gov.in. RTI before that will be returned as “claim under processing”.
• You missed the 72-hour intimation window — insurer's rejection on this ground is technically valid; RTI cannot resurrect the deadline. (Sometimes the District Collector can recommend a discretionary review — try Rung 2 first.)
• You disagree with the village-level yield average itself — that is determined by sample CCEs under State Statistics protocol; RTI gets you the data but cannot change the methodology.
• You want a fresh survey of an old loss — physical evidence has changed; surveyor will reasonably refuse; RTI cannot order a new survey.
• You want legal advice on whether to sue the insurer — RTI is for documents, not opinions. Approach a District Consumer Forum for deficiency-of-service claims under Section 2(11) of the Consumer Protection Act 2019 instead.

Q. I am a tenant farmer — can I enrol in PMFBY?
Yes, but state rules vary. Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha and Karnataka have explicit tenant-declaration formats. Other states require a registered tenancy agreement. Approach your block agriculture officer for the local format — without proof of cultivation, you cannot claim.

Q. I had a KCC loan but closed it last year — am I still auto-enrolled?
No. Once your loan is closed, you become a non-loanee farmer and must enrol manually through CSC or pmfby.gov.in before the cut-off. Many farmers miss this and discover the gap only after a damage event.

Q. Cyclone damaged my standing crop two days ago — what's the fastest way to intimate?
Call 14447 immediately and note down the docket number. Then physically visit your bank branch the same day for a backup written entry. The 72-hour window starts from the occurrence, not from when you become aware — so don't wait.

Q. My neighbour got ₹50,000 for the same crop and same area — I got ₹12,000. Why?
Two possible reasons. (i) Your insurance unit is different from his (different village panchayat with different yield data). (ii) You filed under yield-based claim while he intimated localised calamity within 72 hours and got farm-level assessment. Get the CCE sheet via RTI to confirm.

Q. Can I claim for damage from wild boars / monkeys?
No. PMFBY covers natural calamities (drought, flood, hailstorm, cyclone, fire of natural origin, pest attack notified by State). Wildlife damage is a separate State scheme — check your forest department's ex-gratia for crop damage by wildlife.

Q. The premium got debited from my KCC account but I never authorised it.
Loanee farmers are automatically enrolled unless they submit Form-IB (opt-out declaration) at least 7 days before the cut-off. If you didn't, the auto-debit is valid. If you did and the bank still debited, lodge a written complaint citing the dated Form-IB and ask for refund + ombudsman escalation.

Q. Is PMFBY the same as the Restructured Weather-Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS)?
No. RWBCIS pays based on weather parameters (rainfall, temperature thresholds at reference weather station) — useful for horticulture and oilseed crops where CCEs are difficult. Some states notify only PMFBY; some notify both with farmer's choice. Check your district notification.

Q. I am a sharecropper without any document. Anything I can do?
This is the hardest case. Approach your gram panchayat / sarpanch for a written certification of cultivation, get it countersigned by VAO / Patwari, and submit it to the block agriculture office along with the landowner's NOC. Even with this, enrolment is at the discretion of the State coordinator — chances are better in tenant-friendly states (AP, TG, OD, KA).

• RTI for fasal bima claim delay — copy-ready template
• How to register Udyam MSME — full 2026 guide
• RTI in 12 simple steps — for first-time filers
• All Indian government helplines — one master directory
• RTI forms + state-wise fee chart

Last reviewed: 26 April 2026 by RTI Wiki editorial team. PMFBY notifications, premium splits and cut-off dates are revised every Kharif and Rabi season — verify on pmfby.gov.in or write to admin@bighelpers.in if you spot a stale figure.