Quick reply: Every life insurer in India must offer Saral Jeevan Bima. IRDAI wrote the wording, so the contract is identical everywhere. Compare two things only: the premium for identical cover, and the claim record.
Since 1 January 2021, every life insurer allowed to write new business in India has been directed to sell one identical term plan. IRDAI drafted the policy document itself and barred insurers from adding variants, options or exclusions. That plan is Saral Jeevan Bima, sold with the insurer's name in front of it.
These come from the IRDAI circular, not the insurer, and are the same wherever you buy.
| What IRDAI fixed | The rule |
|---|---|
| Age at entry | 18 to 65 years |
| Policy term | 5 to 40 years |
| Maximum maturity age | 70 years |
| Sum assured | ₹5,00,000 to ₹25,00,000, only in multiples of ₹50,000 |
| Premium options | Regular, limited for 5 or 10 years, or single premium |
| Payment modes | Yearly, half yearly, monthly by ECS or NACH, or lump sum |
| Maturity benefit | None. This is pure risk cover |
| Exclusions | Suicide only, within 12 months. Nothing else |
| Waiting period | 45 days from the date risk starts |
| Grace period | 30 days for yearly and half yearly, 15 days for monthly |
| Loan against the policy | Not allowed |
| Riders you may add | Approved accident benefit and permanent disability only |
| Free look period | 30 days from receipt of the policy document |
Two of those interact. Because maturity age is capped at 70, your maximum term shrinks as you age. At 30 you can take the full 40 years. At 50 the longest is 20. At 65, just 5.
Older guides still say the free look is 15 days, or 30 days only online. That changed: the IRDAI Master Circular of 12 June 2024 gives everyone 30 days, however the policy was bought.
The circular is blunt. Apart from the benefits and riders it lists, no other riders, benefits, options or variants may be offered, and there can be no exclusion other than suicide. It also requires the product to be sold without restrictions based on gender, place of residence, travel, occupation or education.
So nobody can sell you a better Saral Jeevan Bima. Three things remain the insurer's own:
When the contract is identical everywhere, marketing is noise. You are choosing on price and on the likelihood of a clean payout.
Most comparison pages get this wrong. The 45-day waiting period is not a blanket “no cover”.
IRDAI requires that waiting-period rule printed in bold on the welcome letter and page one of the sales literature. If your document lacks it, question what you were sold.
The suicide clause is narrower than people assume. On death by suicide within 12 months of risk starting or of revival, the insurer must still return 80% of premiums paid, or 90% of a single premium.
| The question that matters | Saral Jeevan Bima | ULIP, a linked plan | Endowment or money back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cover per rupee of premium | Highest. The whole premium buys cover | Low. Part of every premium goes into units and charges | Low. Most of it funds the savings pot |
| Lock in | None | 5 years. IRDAI bars payout during the lock in except on death or another covered event | None fixed, but surrender rules make early exit expensive |
| If you stop paying | A regular premium policy lapses and cover ends. No surrender value | Fund value less discontinuance charges moves to the discontinued policy fund and cover ceases | A guaranteed or special surrender value applies, usually well below what you paid in |
| Paid if you survive | Nothing. That is the design | Fund value | Maturity amount, plus bonus if participating |
A term plan buys the most cover for the least money and returns nothing. A savings plan returns something and buys far less cover. If you need more than ₹25,00,000, ask whether that insurer offers a higher sum assured under this product, because the circular permits it and not all of them do.
IRDAI does not fix the premium. Each insurer prices the product under the File and Use route, which is why quotes differ for an identical contract.
One change simplifies the arithmetic. The Department of Financial Services confirms GST on all individual life insurance policies was cut from 18% to zero from 22 September 2025, under notification No. 16/2025 Central Tax (Rate) dated 17 September 2025. So the premium quoted is the premium you pay. Group life policies still attract 18%.
Tax deduction is a separate question. Read term insurance tax exemption under Section 10 10D before assuming any relief.
The IRDAI Annual Report 2024-25 gives the industry benchmark in Table I.11. For individual business in FY 2024-25, insurers handled 10,34,455 death claims. Of these, 97.82% were paid by number and 96.29% by amount. Repudiations under Section 45 of the Insurance Act, 1938 were 1.01%, rejections on policy terms 0.66%, and 0.48% were pending at year end.
Use that as your line in the sand. When an insurer advertises a settlement figure, ask which financial year it covers and whether it counts claims or rupees. A figure without a year is marketing, not data.
A different fight, covered separately here. In short: write to the insurer's grievance officer, then escalate on IRDAI's Bima Bharosa portal at bimabharosa.irdai.gov.in, which took 2,57,790 grievances in FY 2024-25, of which 1,20,429 were life insurance. Still unsatisfied after 30 days? The Council for Insurance Ombudsmen, under the Insurance Ombudsman Rules, 2017, takes free complaints up to ₹50 lakh within a year of the rejection.
For detail, read what to do when a claim goes into investigation and how to move a nominee claim stuck in verification.
RTI does not reach a private insurer, because a company is not a public authority. IRDAI is one, and runs its own RTI cell, so RTI works for asking IRDAI about grievance disposal or product filing records.
Draft it with the AI RTI Drafter, track the 30-day clock with the Timeline Tracker, test an evasive reply with the PIO Reply Checker, then escalate using the First Appeal Builder. The RTI Playbook sets out the sequence.
Yes. The circular directing all life insurers to offer it from 1 January 2021 is still an active document on the IRDAI website. The Master Circular of 12 June 2024 superseded four earlier circulars, all on product filing procedure, and this one is not among them. Insurers including LIC sell their version today.
No, and this is the commonest misunderstanding. IRDAI standardised the contract, not the price. Each insurer sets its own premium under the File and Use route, so quotes for the same age, term and cover differ between companies.
Possibly. The standard band is ₹5 lakh to ₹25 lakh, but the circular expressly permits insurers to offer more with all other terms unchanged. Ask directly, because not all do.
On a regular premium policy, cover ends after the grace period and nothing comes back. There is no surrender value under this plan. A policy cancellation value is payable only on single premium policies, and on limited premium policies where at least two consecutive full years have been paid.
It should not. The circular requires the product to be offered without restrictions based on gender, place of residence, travel, occupation or education. Underwriting still applies, so an insurer may decline or load a premium on health or financial grounds, but not on those five.
No. Only approved accident benefit and permanent disability riders may be attached, and no loan is allowed. Anything else sold under this name is not part of the product.
Rarely, and it ends when the job does. A group policy runs on different terms, and group life premiums still carry 18% GST. See what happens when a group term claim is delayed.