Bharat Yatra Suraksha: Domestic Travel Insurance Guide 2026

Quick answer: Bharat Yatra Suraksha is the standard domestic travel insurance product that IRDAI asked every general insurer to offer from 1 July 2021. It is a single-journey accident cover for trips inside India, sold in five plans (A to E) depending on how you travel. It is not a general health or trip-protection policy, so read what it excludes before you rely on it for a holiday.

Why a domestic travel policy exists at all

Most Indians who buy travel insurance do it for a trip abroad, because a visa or a hospital bill in another country forces the issue. Inside India, people mostly travel uninsured, even on long train journeys, overnight buses and short flights. IRDAI's 2021 guidelines tried to fix that gap with one standardised product. Every insurer that sells it has to follow the same basic structure, which makes comparing quotes easier than usual. Pricing is still left to each insurer, and that is where the differences show up.

If you have only read about international cover, our broader pieces on Schengen visa travel insurance and flight cancellation and delay cover deal with a different product. This one is purely domestic and purely accident-driven.

The five plans

Each plan covers one journey. None of them can be renewed. You pick the plan that matches the transport you will actually use:

• Plan A: taxi, cab or bus trips up to 100 km from where you start.
• Plan B: taxi, cab or bus trips beyond 100 km.
• Plan C: train travel on a reserved ticket, with no distance limit.
• Plan D: domestic air travel.
• Plan E: a trip that uses one or more common carriers (taxi, bus, train, ship or air). It runs from the place you leave to the time you return, for trips up to 30 days.

Plans A to D protect you from the start of the journey to its end. Plan E is the one to look at if your holiday strings together a flight, a train and a hired cab.

What every policy must cover

The mandatory covers are the heart of the product. As described in the Royal Sundaram brochure and in press reports of the IRDAI framework, they are:

• Accidental hospitalisation: sum insured from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh, with a Rs 500 deductible. Hospitalisation or day care treatment must follow an accident while you were a passenger on a common carrier. In the Royal Sundaram version, room, boarding and nursing are capped at 2% of the sum insured (maximum Rs 10,000 a day), and ICU charges at 4% (maximum Rs 20,000 a day).
• Accidental death: Rs 1 lakh to Rs 1 crore, paid to the nominee if death occurs within 365 days of the accident.
• Permanent total disability: paid when an accident on the trip causes it. Permanent partial disability pays a percentage of the sum insured.
• Repatriation of mortal remains: Rs 20,000 to Rs 1 lakh, available on every plan except Plan A.

There is no initial waiting period, no co-payment (though insurers may apply deductibles), and you pay a single premium before travel. The buyer must be at least 18, but there is no upper age limit. Press coverage of the IRDAI framework adds that family and group cover is allowed.

Optional covers worth a look

These vary by plan and by insurer, so check the policy wording rather than assuming. In the Royal Sundaram brochure:

• Trip delay (Plans D and E): Rs 500 to Rs 5,000 when a flight is delayed beyond 3 hours.
• Carrier cancellation (Plans D and E): Rs 2,500 to Rs 50,000 when a confirmed flight is cancelled within 48 hours of departure.
• Missed flight connection (Plans D and E): Rs 2,500 to Rs 50,000.
• Loss of checked-in baggage (Plans D and E): Rs 2,000 to Rs 20,000, paid as a fixed amount, which you must return if the bag turns up later.
• Trip cancellation and interruption (Plan E only): Rs 20,000 to Rs 1 lakh, with a Rs 10,000 deductible.
• Compassionate allowance: Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh, which helps a family member reach you if you are hospitalised for more than 5 days.

The trip-delay and baggage numbers are small. Treat them as a modest cushion, not a reason to buy.

What it does not cover

This is where people get caught out. The standard exclusions include:

• Pre-existing diseases, injuries or conditions.
• Self-inflicted injury and suicide attempts.
• Accidents while riding or driving a two-wheeler, or while driving your own motor vehicle, and claims where you were driving the common carrier itself.
• War and hostilities, nuclear or radioactive events, and illegal acts.

The practical consequence: this policy does not pay for a fever, food poisoning or a heart problem on holiday. It pays when an accident on a bus, train, ship or flight puts you in hospital, or worse. If you are driving yourself to Goa, it does not respond to a road accident in your own car. For illness cover, your regular health policy still does the work. If you are unsure how that policy behaves when you are away from your home city, our health insurance hub and glossary explain the terms.

Quick comparison: who should consider it

• Frequent long-distance bus or train traveller: Plan B or C is cheap relative to the death and disability cover it adds. Check whether your employer's group accident cover already gives you something similar.
• Family flying for a holiday: Plan D or E with trip delay and carrier cancellation. The accident cover is the main value; the delay benefit is minor.
• Self-drive road trips: not a fit. Look at your motor policy's personal accident cover instead.
• Someone with an existing health problem: the pre-existing condition exclusion means it will not help with that condition.

How to claim, and the deadlines that matter

Under the Royal Sundaram terms, you should tell the insurer within 30 days of an event that could lead to a claim, and within 24 hours of admission in an emergency hospitalisation. The claim itself should be filed within one month of finishing treatment, or of transporting or burying the mortal remains. Expect to provide the claim form, photo ID, bank details with a cancelled cheque, and KYC if the claim exceeds Rs 1 lakh. Keep tickets and boarding passes, because they prove you were a passenger on a common carrier. Other insurers may word the timelines differently, so read yours.

You can cancel before the journey with a 25% premium deduction, and notice periods differ by plan (1 hour for Plans A and B, 3 hours for C and D, 3 days for E). After the journey starts, cancellation is not allowed for Plans A to D. If a claim goes wrong, our guide on how we handle sources and corrections shows how we verify what we publish, and IRDAI's complaint routes are the next step.

Frequently asked questions

Is Bharat Yatra Suraksha compulsory?

No. IRDAI's guidelines require insurers to offer the product, but buying it is your choice.

Can I renew it?

No. It covers a single journey and cannot be renewed. Plan E can be extended for an extra premium if you ask at least 3 days before the policy ends, per the Royal Sundaram terms.

Does it cover illness during the trip?

No. It is an accident cover. Illness is not the trigger for the hospitalisation benefit.

Is there a waiting period or an age limit?

There is no initial waiting period and no maximum entry age. The person buying it must be at least 18.

How much does it cost?

IRDAI leaves pricing to insurers, so premiums depend on the plan, sum insured and company. Compare at least two quotes and check the optional covers included.

Does it replace international travel insurance?

No. It is for trips within India only. Overseas trips need a separate international policy.

Sources and a caution

Sources: the IRDAI Guidelines on Standard Domestic Travel Insurance Product (May 2021) as summarised by Moneylife and Policybazaar; the Bharat Yatra Suraksha brochure from Royal Sundaram General Insurance; HDFC ERGO's explainer on the IRDAI guidelines; and the travel insurance guidance on IRDAI's policyholder portal (policyholder.gov.in). The plan details and limits above come mainly from one insurer's brochure, and other insurers' wording and prices can differ. Before buying, confirm the current terms in the insurer's own policy wording and prospectus. This article is educational and is not a recommendation to buy any product.