PB Fintech had clarified that it’s planned foray into healthcare business is meant for aligning interests between insurers and hospitals that could enhance customer claims experiences and it has no plans to enter the hospital business or owning physical assets like hospitals

New Delhi: PB Fintech Limited, a listed entity and the parent company of Policybazaar, has decided to venture into healthcare business and has approved setting up an exclusive subsidiary for the purpose.

“The Board of Directors of PB Fintech Limited through a circular resolution passed on December 03, 2024 has approved the incorporation of the wholly owned subsidiary with the proposed name “PB Healthcare Private Limited” or “PB Healthcare Services Private Limited” or any other name as may be approved by the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, Government of India to carry on the business of healthcare services,” said PB Fintech in an exchange filing on Tuesday.

Alok Bansal, Co-Founder and CFO of PB Fintech, the parent company of Policybazaar, in a media interaction had earlier clarified that PB Fintech is not considering entering the hospital business. and has no plans to own physical assets like hospitals.

Earlier, in its filing with the stock exchanges, PB Fintech had also stated that it’s planned foray into healthcare business is meant for aligning interests between insurers and hospitals that could enhance customer claims experiences, potentially increasing insurance penetration.

Sources in the industry said PB Fintech’s healthcare foray will be implemented through healthcare tech and service space.

Given that social security support on healthcare services front is either very limited or difficult to access for the general public, the venture aims to redefine the way India seeks quality medical services, just like its parent company has done it for the insurance segment.

“Our vision is to change customer behaviour in the healthcare space by making the consumer shift to online medical consultation from offline by building an easy to use, convenient and trustworthy solution. We believe that healthcare space has huge potential to disrupt, and can follow the same growth trajectory as the digital insurance space which initially faced a similar kind of consumer inertia that this space faces,” Yashish Dahiya, Co-founder and CEO, PolicyBazaar Group of Companies had earlier said.

“We will be building a team of certified and quality medical professionals to give free online consultations to customers. This shall be supported by a robust offline network. AI will play a key role in helping us build this in scale and efficiency,” Dahiya had said.

The out of pocket healthcare market in India estimated at nearly $100 billion.

India has one of the lowest ratios for a doctor per 1,000 people amongst the developing countries. Having a physical interaction with a medical practitioner is not only a time-consuming process but also an expensive one, especially in the private sector.

Even though government hospitals and state-run health centres offer consultations either free of cost or at subsidised pricing, it’s not easy to get an access to these services.