PMFBY crop-insurance claim stuck? RTI to the District Agriculture Officer

Suresh owns 1.5 hectares of rainfed cotton and paddy in a tehsil in Akola district, Maharashtra. Every Kharif, his cooperative bank auto-debits the PMFBY premium along with his crop loan in May; he has never had to fill a form. In the second week of September 2025, a sudden hailstorm followed by three days of waterlogging flattened his standing cotton. He did what the Crop Insurance App told him to do: he sent geo-tagged photographs within 72 hours and got a ticket number.

Then silence. No surveyor came. The season ended, the gram panchayat's Crop Cutting Experiment was supposedly conducted in December, the yield data was said to be uploaded to the National Crop Insurance Portal, and by late January 2026 Suresh had still received nothing. The empanelled insurance company, reached on the toll-free line, said “pending yield data.” The bank said “we have not received any claim credit.” The local agriculture office said “the file is with the insurer.”

Suresh's problem is not unique. Across India, the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) covers tens of millions of farmers, and the single most common complaint is a claim that sits in the gap between yield finalisation and insurance-company release. The premium is real, the loss is real, the board at the panchayat office is real. What goes missing is the paper trail — the CCE yield number, the calculation worksheet, the State's release order. That paper trail is your right under the Right to Information Act, 2005. This guide shows you, in plain steps, how to pull it out using only verified facts about the scheme as it stands in 2026.

PMFBY is a Central Sector Scheme run by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (DA&FW), Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Government of India. It is implemented through empanelled insurance companies and a State Nodal Agency in each implementing State, usually the State's Department of Agriculture. The Union Cabinet approved continuation of PMFBY and the Restructured Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (RWBCIS) till 2025-26 with a total outlay of Rs.69,515.71 crore for the period 2021-22 to 2025-26.

The single IT platform that connects farmers, States, insurers and banks is the National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP) at https://pmfby.gov.in, operational since Kharif 2018 and hosted by DA&FW. Every enrolment, every CCE yield entry, every claim calculation and every grievance is supposed to flow through this portal.

The structure that matters for your RTI is this: the insurance company is a private entity. It is empanelled by the State, but it is not a “public authority” under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act, so you cannot file RTI against it directly. The public-authority custodians of the claim file are two: the District Agriculture Officer (DAO), who conducts and holds the Crop Cutting Experiment data and the notified-unit records, and the State Nodal Agency for PMFBY (the State Department of Agriculture), which holds the premium subsidy records, the insurer's claim-processing log, the threshold-yield notification and the release order. The Central DA&FW holds policy-level and inter-State records and is reachable through the Central RTI portal. This three-layer structure is the reason a stuck PMFBY claim usually needs two RTI applications, not one.

To ask a sharp question, you need to know how a PMFBY claim moves. The season begins with enrolment: for a loanee farmer, the bank auto-debits the premium with the crop loan; for a non-loanee farmer, enrolment is done through the Crop Insurance App, a Common Service Centre, or a bank branch. The sum insured, the premium share and the notified crop are recorded on the NCIP.

When a localised calamity strikes — hailstorm, inundation, landslide, and from Kharif 2026 also wild-animal attack and paddy inundation — the farmer must intimate the loss within 72 hours through the Crop Insurance App with geo-tagged photographs. This 72-hour window is a standing Operational Guideline requirement; missing it is the single most common reason a localised-calamity claim is rejected.

At season end, the State Agriculture Department conducts Crop Cutting Experiments (CCE) in sampled plots of each notified insurance unit (typically a village or gram panchayat). The actual yield (AY) is uploaded to the NCIP. If the AY falls below the threshold yield (the average yield of the last seven years, or the yield guaranteed for the season), a claim is triggered. The insurer calculates the payable amount, the State releases its share of the subsidy, and under the DigiClaim module — operational since Kharif 2022 — the claim is settled directly into the farmer's bank account through PFMS: the loan account for a loanee, the savings account for a non-loanee.

The timeline that matters is set by the PMFBY Operational Guidelines (the revised “PMFBY 2.0” framework effective from Kharif 2020). Under Section 16.8, the insurer must pay admissible claims within two weeks of claim calculation or auto-approval. Under Section 16.9, penal interest at 12% per annum is payable by the insurance company to farmers on admissible pending claims beyond 30 days of uploading the Actual Yield on the portal — subject to the State having released its share of subsidy. The State, in turn, pays 12% per annum if it delays the State share of subsidy beyond three months. Banks must credit the claim to the farmer's account within 7 days of receipt, else they owe savings-rate interest. From Kharif 2024, an automatic 12% penalty for delayed payment has been operationalised through the DigiClaim module, which means the calculation worksheet and the payment-status timestamp are now digitally recorded and held by the State Nodal Agency and DA&FW — exactly the records an RTI can extract.

Two things changed for PMFBY going into 2026 that a citizen filing RTI should know.

First, the Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare approved (November 2025) two new add-on covers rolling out from Kharif 2026: wild-animal attack as the fifth add-on under the localised-risk category, and paddy inundation reintroduced as a localised calamity cover. Farmers must report such losses within the 72-hour intimation window through the Crop Insurance App with geo-tagged photographs, and States are required to notify the vulnerable districts and the list of wild animals covered. If your Kharif 2026 loss falls under either of these heads and your intimation was rejected as “not a notified peril,” your RTI should ask for the State's notification of vulnerable districts and the list of wild animals — that document is the key to whether your claim is admissible.

Second, the grievance architecture is now fully digital. The Krishi Rakshak Portal and Helpline (KRPH), toll-free number 14447, was launched on 8 February 2024, with a WhatsApp chatbot at 7065514447. Every grievance gets a ticket ID with a 15-day turnaround, and there is a three-tier escalation: the Tehsil or Taluk Grievance Redressal Officer (7 days), then the District Level Grievance Redressal Committee chaired by the District Magistrate or Collector (15 days), then the State Level Grievance Redressal Committee chaired by the Principal Secretary of the Nodal Department (15 days; for claims above Rs.25 lakh or multi-district cases). A parallel grievance on 14447 alongside your RTI is not a substitute for the RTI — it is a complement, because the ticket ID and the escalation trail become records you can later ask for under RTI.

You will file two applications in parallel — one to the District Agriculture Officer, one to the State Nodal Agency — and, if the issue is policy-level or inter-State, a third to the Central DA&FW. Each is a separate Rs.10 application.

Step 1 — Identify the public authorities.

1. District level: The District Agriculture Officer (DAO) or District Agriculture Officer-cum-District Collectorate, at your District Agriculture Office. This office is the custodian of the CCE yield data, the notified insurance-unit list, the surveyor report for localised calamities, and the District Monitoring Committee minutes.
2. State level: The State Nodal Agency for PMFBY, which sits in the State Department of Agriculture (often called the Director of Agriculture or the Principal Secretary, Agriculture Department, depending on the State). This office holds the insurer's claim-processing log, the DigiClaim calculation worksheet, the threshold-yield notification, and the State's release order and subsidy status.
3. Central level: The Nodal CPIO, O and M or PG or RTI Division, Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Krishi Bhavan, New Delhi - 110001. File online through the Central RTI portal rtionline.gov.in by selecting “Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare” under “Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare.” Use this route for policy questions, inter-State disputes, or when the State route has failed.

Step 2 — Gather your anchors. Before drafting, collect: the policy or application reference number from the NCIP, the season and year (Kharif or Rabi), the notified crop, the notified insurance unit (your village or gram panchayat name), the sum insured, the premium debit date and bank, and — for a localised calamity — the 72-hour intimation ticket ID. These are the two anchors the PIO needs to locate your file: the bank debit slip and the enrolment receipt or NCIP reference.

Step 3 — Prepare your questions. Ask for specific, dated records, not vague “details.” Six strong sample questions:

1. Enrolment: “Furnish the enrolment confirmation for my PMFBY policy reference [number] for [season, year], including sum insured, premium paid, and date of debit from my bank account.”
2. CCE yield: “Furnish the Crop Cutting Experiment yield data for my notified insurance unit [village or gram panchayat] for [season, year], including the date of each CCE, the plot location, and the uploaded Actual Yield figure on the National Crop Insurance Portal.”
3. Threshold and calculation: “Furnish the notified threshold yield for [crop] in [notified unit] for [season, year], and the complete claim calculation worksheet showing threshold yield, actual yield, sum insured, indemnity level, and payable amount.”
4. Insurer's log: “Furnish the empanelled insurance company's claim-processing log and the DigiClaim payment-status timestamp for my policy reference [number].”
5. Release order: “Furnish the State Nodal Agency's release order to the insurance company for [season, year] for my notified unit, and the status of the State share of premium subsidy as on [date].”
6. Localised calamity: “Furnish the surveyor's report and finding for my localised-calamity intimation ticket ID [number] dated [date], and if no survey was conducted, the written reasons therefor.”

Step 4 — Use the right form and fee. Under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act, 2005, the application is a plain handwritten or typed letter. The fee is Rs.10 for the Central application to DA&FW, payable by Indian Postal Order, court-fee stamp, cash against receipt, or online through rtionline.gov.in by debit or credit card. Below Poverty Line holders, on producing proof, are exempt from the fee. For the State applications, the fee and mode vary slightly by State rules — most States also charge Rs.10, but a few differ; check your State's RTI Rules before filing. See RTI for Beginners: Everything You Need to Know Before Filing Your for the step-by-step filing process and RTI Fees by State and Online Portal Directory (2026) for State-wise fee and payment-mode details.

Step 5 — Submit and keep proof. File by hand at the PIO's office and take a stamped receiving copy, or send by registered post and keep the acknowledgement, or file online and save the registration number. Proof of submission is your protection if the reply is delayed or denied.

Step 6 — Wait 30 days. The PIO must reply within 30 days of receiving your application under Section 7(1) (48 hours if the matter concerns life or liberty, which a delayed crop-insurance claim normally does not, though crop-loss distress is increasingly argued as a livelihood matter).

RTI is powerful because it has a built-in ladder. If the PIO ignores you or gives a vague reply, you do not stop there.

1. First appeal: If no reply comes within 30 days, or you are unhappy with the reply, file a First Appeal under Section 19(1) of the RTI Act with the First Appellate Authority in the same department. Do this within 30 days of the deadline. The FAA must decide within 30 days, extendable to 45.
2. Second appeal: If the FAA also fails you, file a Second Appeal under Section 19(3) — to the Central Information Commission for the DA&FW application, or to your State Information Commission for the DAO and State Nodal Agency applications. There is no fee for a second appeal to the Central Information Commission.
3. Complaint under Section 18: You can also file a direct complaint to the Information Commission if the PIO never replied at all or refused to accept your application.

For PMFBY, the most common outcome is that the DAO replies with the CCE yield data, the State Nodal Agency replies with the calculation worksheet, and the claim is credited within days of those documents landing on paper. The reason is structural: once the Actual Yield figure, the calculation worksheet and the release order are in the citizen's hands, the 12% penal-interest clock under Section 16.9 — and the debarment risk for the insurer — make settlement cheaper than continued delay.

1. Photocopy of the bank passbook page showing the premium debit.
2. The PMFBY enrolment receipt or NCIP policy reference printout.
3. For a localised calamity, the Crop Insurance App ticket ID and a screenshot of the geo-tagged photograph submission.
4. Proof of BPL status, if claiming the fee exemption.
5. The Indian Postal Order or court-fee stamp for Rs.10 (or the online payment receipt).
6. A self-addressed stamped envelope for the reply (where filing by post).

1. Filing at the insurance company. Empanelled insurers are private entities and not public authorities under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act. Your application will be returned. File at the DAO and State Nodal Agency, which can call for the insurer's records.
2. Not quoting the notified insurance unit. CCE is conducted at the village or gram panchayat level. Without the unit name, the PIO cannot locate the yield data. Always give the village or gram panchayat, not just the district.
3. Missing the 72-hour localised-calamity window. Under the Operational Guidelines, intimation beyond 72 hours is a common ground for rejection. If you did intimate in time, attach the ticket ID; if you did not, your RTI should focus on the CCE yield-shortfall route instead.
4. Asking “why is my claim not paid.” That is a question, not a request for a record. Ask for the CCE yield data, the calculation worksheet and the release order — the documents answer the “why” on their own.
5. Forgetting the 12% penal interest. Once the 30-days-after-AY-upload threshold is crossed, the insurer owes 12% per annum on the admissible pending claim. Asking the State Nodal Agency for the “date of upload of Actual Yield on the portal” pins down the start of that clock.
6. Ignoring the Central route for policy disputes. If your grievance is about the scheme design, the notification of a peril, or an inter-State dispute, the State offices cannot help. File the third application to DA&FW through rtionline.gov.in.

To,
The Public Information Officer,
Office of the District Agriculture Officer,
[District], [State]

Subject: Application under Section 6(1) of the RTI Act, 2005, regarding my PMFBY crop-insurance claim for [season, year].

Sir/Madam,

I, [Name], son/daughter of [Father's Name], resident of [Full Address, Village, Block, District, State, PIN], am a citizen of India and a PMFBY-covered farmer. My particulars are:

  PMFBY Policy / Application Reference No.: ________
  Season (Kharif / Rabi) and Year: ________
  Notified Crop: ________
  Notified Insurance Unit (Village / Gram Panchayat): ________
  Sum Insured: Rs. ________
  Premium debit date and bank: ________
  Nature of loss: mid-season adversity / localised calamity / yield shortfall
  Localised-calamity intimation ticket ID (if any): ________

Please furnish the following information under Section 6(1) read with Section 7(1) of the RTI Act, 2005:

  1. Enrolment confirmation in the PMFBY database for the above season and crop, including sum insured, premium paid, and date of debit.
  2. Crop Cutting Experiment yield data for my notified insurance unit, including date of each CCE, plot location, and the Actual Yield figure uploaded on the National Crop Insurance Portal along with the date of upload.
  3. Notified threshold yield and indemnity level for the season for my notified unit.
  4. Name of the empanelled insurance company allotted to my unit and its claim-processing log for my policy.
  5. If I filed a localised-calamity intimation within 72 hours, the surveyor's report and finding; if no survey was conducted, the written reasons therefor.
  6. The complete claim calculation worksheet — threshold yield, actual yield, sum insured, indemnity level, payable amount — and the DigiClaim payment-status timestamp.
  7. The State Nodal Agency's release order to the insurance company for the season for my notified unit, and the status of the State share of premium subsidy.
  8. If the claim has been rejected or reduced, the written grounds and the First Appellate Authority's name and address under Section 19(1).
  9. The District Monitoring Committee minutes for the season.
  10. The date from which the 12% per annum penal interest under Section 16.9 of the PMFBY Operational Guidelines is computed on my admissible pending claim.

I state that the information sought is not exempt under Section 8 or 9 of the RTI Act, 2005. Being below poverty line / not below poverty line (strike out as applicable), I enclose Indian Postal Order No. ________ for Rs.10 / claim the BPL fee exemption.

Yours faithfully,
[Signature]
[Name]
[Date], [Place]

No. Empanelled insurance companies under PMFBY are private entities and do not qualify as “public authorities” under Section 2(h) of the RTI Act, 2005. Your application to them will be returned. File instead to the District Agriculture Officer and the State Nodal Agency, which are public authorities and can call for the insurer's records as part of their own files.

Under Section 16.8 of the Operational Guidelines, the insurer must pay admissible claims within two weeks of claim calculation or auto-approval. Under Section 16.9, penal interest at 12% per annum is payable by the insurer on admissible pending claims beyond 30 days of uploading the Actual Yield on the portal, subject to the State having released its share of subsidy. The State owes 12% per annum if it delays the State subsidy share beyond three months, and the bank must credit the farmer within 7 days of receipt.

Yes. The Crop Cutting Experiment yield data is a record held by the District Agriculture Officer, a public authority. You obtain it through a Section 6(1) application, with a reply due under Section 7(1) within 30 days. It is not “automatically public” — you must ask for it, and the notified insurance unit name is essential to locate the right record.

Ask the DAO, in your RTI, for the CCE plan for your notified unit, the list of plots where CCE was actually conducted, and — if your unit was skipped — the neighbouring unit's yield data and the District Monitoring Committee's reasoning. Non-conduct of CCE is itself a grievance ground and can be escalated to the District Level Grievance Redressal Committee chaired by the Collector through the 14447 helpline.

Two, in parallel. The District Agriculture Officer holds the CCE yield data and the surveyor report; the State Nodal Agency holds the calculation worksheet, the insurer's log, and the release order. Filing both at the same time prevents the two offices from referring you to each other and shortens the total wait. If the issue is policy-level — say, a peril not notified — add a third to DA&FW through rtionline.gov.in.

You do not need to “claim” it separately. Once the 30-day post-AY-upload threshold is crossed on an admissible claim, the 12% per annum interest is automatically owed by the insurer, and from Kharif 2024 the DigiClaim module auto-computes it. Your RTI should ask for the “date of upload of Actual Yield on the portal” and the “DigiClaim payment-status timestamp” — those two dates pin down the interest clock.

The KRPH toll-free helpline 14447, launched 8 February 2024, is the PMFBY grievance route with a 15-day turnaround and a three-tier escalation. It does not replace RTI — the two work together. File a grievance on 14447 to get a ticket ID, and then use that ticket ID in your RTI when asking for the surveyor report and the action taken. The grievance trail itself becomes a record you can request under RTI.

For the Central application to DA&FW, yes — file through rtionline.gov.in and pay by card. For the State applications, it depends on your State: many States now have their own online RTI portals, while others still require a postal application. Check your State's RTI Rules. The RTI for Beginners: Everything You Need to Know Before Filing Your guide walks through the filing process step by step.

That is exactly when the calculation worksheet matters. Ask the State Nodal Agency, under Section 6(1), for the complete worksheet — threshold yield, actual yield, sum insured, indemnity level, and the arithmetic. If the sum insured or the indemnity level in the worksheet differs from what your enrolment receipt shows, that is grounds for a First Appeal under Section 19(1).

A practical trigger: if more than 30 to 45 days have passed since the Actual Yield for your notified unit was uploaded to the NCIP and no claim credit has appeared, file. For a localised calamity, if no surveyor has visited within 7 days of your 72-hour intimation, file. Waiting longer only erodes the 12% interest clock you are entitled to.

1. PM India — Cabinet approves modification of PMFBY and RWBCIS till 2025-26, outlay Rs.69,515.71 crore: [pmindia.gov.in](https://pmindia.gov.in/en/news_updates/cabinet-approves-modification-addition-of-the-features-provisions-in-the-ongoing-central-sector-scheme-of-pradhan-mantri-fasal-bima-yojana-pmfby-and-restructured-weather-based-crop-insurance-scheme/)
2. National Crop Insurance Portal (NCIP), DA&FW: [pmfby.gov.in](https://pmfby.gov.in/)
3. PIB — PMFBY Operational Guidelines (revised, effective Rabi 2018-19; PMFBY 2.0 from Kharif 2020), Section 16.8 and 16.9: [static.pib.gov.in](https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/userfiles/688.pdf)
4. PIB — penal interest 12% on delayed admissible claims: [pib.gov.in](https://pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1559074)
5. DA&FW Operational Guidelines 2025 (Section 16.8, 16.9, DigiClaim): [cdnbbsr.s3waas.gov.in](https://cdnbbsr.s3waas.gov.in/s30fe473396242072e84af286632d3f0ff/uploads/2025/02/202502191018667317.pdf)
6. PIB — Empowering Annadatas: DigiClaim module and automatic 12% penalty from Kharif 2024, August 2025: [static.pib.gov.in](https://static.pib.gov.in/WriteReadData/specificdocs/documents/2025/aug/doc2025811604501.pdf)
7. Agrospectrum — KRPH toll-free helpline 14447 and WhatsApp chatbot 7065514447 launched 8 February 2024: [agrospectrumindia.com](https://agrospectrumindia.com/2024/02/08/union-agriculture-minister-unveils-lms-krishi-rakshak-portal-helpline-14447-and-sarthi-portal.html)
8. Manorama Yearbook — PMFBY Kharif 2026 add-on covers: wild-animal attack and paddy inundation, November 2025: [manoramayearbook.in](https://www.manoramayearbook.in/current-affairs/india/2025/11/19/pradhan-mantri-fasal-bima-yojana-explained.html)
9. DA&FW — O and M, PG and RTI Division: [agriwelfare.gov.in](https://agriwelfare.gov.in/en/OMPGRTIDiv)
10. Central Information Commission — Nodal CPIOs list: [cic.gov.in](https://cic.gov.in/sites/default/files/Nodal%20CPIOs.pdf)
11. Central RTI online portal: [rtionline.gov.in](https://rtionline.gov.in)
12. Right to Information Act, 2005 — Sections 2(h), 6(1), 7(1), 10, 19(1), 19(3)

1. RTI for Fasal Bima claim
2. Crop insurance claim not paid under PMFBY
3. RTI for money, schemes and subsidies
4. RTI for PM-KISAN installment
5. RTI for MGNREGA wages
6. RTI for government scheme delay
7. Insurance surveyor not visiting the claim
8. RTI for beginners — how to file

If you would rather not write the application by hand, use the free tools on RTI Wiki. The AI RTI Draft App at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/ai-rti-draft-app.html turns your PMFBY story into a ready-to-file Section 6(1) application with your details pre-filled. The PIO Reply Checker at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/pio-reply-checker-app.html reads the reply you get back and tells you whether it is complete or whether you should file a First Appeal. The Timeline Calculator at https://righttoinformation.wiki/tools/timeline-calculator-app.html works out your 30-day reply deadline, your First Appeal window, and your Second Appeal window so no deadline slips.

Last reviewed: 5 July 2026.