2 weeks ago
Telangana Panel Orders Tata AIA to Pay ₹1 Crore Claim
This story is about life insurance, which is a promise to give money to a family if someone passes away.
A man named Ramdas Vislavath bought a big insurance policy from a company called Tata AIA.
He paid money every year so his family would get one crore rupees if he died.
Sadly, he got very sick with Covid-19 and passed away in May 2021.
His wife asked the insurance company for the money.
But the company said no, because it thought he hid information about another insurance application that had been postponed.
His wife took the matter to a consumer court, a place that solves problems between people and companies.
The court said the insurance company must pay, because it could not prove that the man lied on purpose.
Now the company has to pay the one crore rupees, plus extra money as interest.
This helps protect families when insurance companies refuse to pay.
The Telangana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission directed Tata AIA Life Insurance to honour a ₹1 crore death claim it had repudiated.
Tata AIA rejected the claim alleging Ramdas Vislavath concealed an earlier ICICI Prudential proposal that had been postponed on medical grounds.
Vislavath died of Covid-19 on 25 May 2021, less than two years after his Tata AIA Samporna Raksha policy commenced on 31 October 2019.
The Commission ruled the insurer failed to prove that Vislavath knowingly concealed the earlier proposal or knew about its postponement.
Tata AIA must pay the claim with 9% annual interest from 10 January 2022, plus ₹50,000 compensation and ₹10,000 litigation costs.
- Who
- Ramdas Vislavath, a retired Superintendent in the Central Excise Department, his nominee-widow Padma Vislavath, Tata AIA Life Insurance, and the Telangana State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.
- What
- The Commission dismissed Tata AIA's appeal and ordered it to pay a ₹1 crore death claim the insurer had repudiated for alleged non-disclosure.
- Where
- Telangana, India.
- When
- The policy commenced on 31 October 2019; Vislavath died on 25 May 2021; the judgment was dated 12 June 2026.
- Why
- The Commission found Tata AIA failed to prove that Vislavath knowingly concealed the earlier postponed insurance proposal.
Insurer's Argument
Commission's Ruling
Non-disclosure of earlier postponed proposal
Insurer's Argument
Tata AIA argued that Vislavath's earlier ICICI Prudential proposal, postponed on medical grounds in July 2019, was a material fact he was duty-bound to disclose, and that his 'No' answer amounted to suppression, making the policy void from inception.
Commission's Ruling
The Commission held that Tata AIA failed to prove the postponement was communicated to Vislavath, that he knew about it, or that he knowingly gave a false answer, and that suspicion about what he 'must have known' cannot substitute for evidence.
Key facts
- Sum assured
- ₹1 crore
- Policy
- Tata AIA Samporna Raksha, 25-year term
- Annual premium
- ₹58,800
- Date of death
- 25 May 2021 (Covid-19)
- Judgment date
- 12 June 2026
- Interest
- 9% per annum from 10 January 2022
- Compensation
- ₹50,000
- Litigation costs
- ₹10,000
Sources
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