As part of its strategy to leverage the deep penetration of mobile services to build a financially secure India, domestic telecom major Bharti Airtel has partnered with Bharti AXA Life Insurance to offer a prepaid plan with insurance protection coverage to all its customers across the country.

Airtel has introduced its innovative Rs 599 prepaid bundle with 2GB data/day, unlimited calls to any network and 100 SMS/day, and also offers Rs 4 lakh life insurance cover from Bharti AXA Life Insurance. The recharge comes with a validity of 84 days and the insurance cover continues automatically for three months with every recharge.

This prepaid bundle with a life insurance cover is currently available to customers across Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry and its availability will be gradually extended to pan-India in the next few months.

The innovative prepaid bundle by Airtel and Bharti AXA Life Insurance combines Airtel's deep distribution reach, including presence in rural pockets, with Bharti AXA Life's expertise in insurance to make it very simple for millions of uninsured and underinsured Indians to get a sizeable life insurance cover every time they recharge their mobile phones.

"We believe our network is a great platform to digitally deliver a range of services and solve the problems of customers. We are delighted to partner with Bharti AXA Life Insurance to roll out this innovative offering and remove the barriers of price, access and payment inconveniences for the adoption of life insurance in India. We remain committed to building a digitally enabled and financially secure Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry," said Manoj Murali, Hub CEO – Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Bharti Airtel.

The life insurance cover, which is available to all customers aged 18-54 years, requires no paperwork or medical examination and the certificate of insurance will be instantaneously delivered digitally. A physical copy of the insurance will be delivered to the customer's doorstep on request.

"We have always been at the forefront of creating customer-centric protection products in the industry. The strategic association with Airtel as a Group master policyholder and Airtel's pan-India vast distribution network will boost insurance penetration in the country. The introduction of term insurance with every pre-paid recharge provides protection benefits to consumers,'' said Vikas Seth, Managing Director and CEO, Bharti AXA Life Insurance.

Airtel has engineered the entire process to be delivered digitally in a matter of a few minutes. A customer needs to enrol for the insurance after the first recharge through SMS, Airtel Thanks App or the Airtel Retailer.

The partnership is expected to further increase insurance penetration in India, given Airtel's pan-India robust customer base. It leverages digital platforms and Airtel's distribution reach, allowing people to get twin benefits of the prepaid plan and life insurance cover.

Notably, the insurance penetration in India is less than 4 percent (of the population) while mobile penetration is close to 90 percent. It is estimated that India will have close to 830 million smartphone users by 2022.