‘Industry-first’: Razorpay extends health insurance to LGBTQIA+, live-in partners

In an industry-first move, financial services startup Razorpay has extended health insurance policy benefits to include live-in partners, same-gender partners, and those who identify as LGBTQIA+, as part of its revamped employee health insurance policy. The company will also provide benefits such as gender reassignment surgery and infertility treatment.

The company says this “industry-first move” makes it the first fintech unicorn in India to introduce an inclusive insurance policy for its employees. "The new insurance policy, introduced recently, will be applicable to all current team members of Razorpay," says the company, which has a total strength of 2,300 employees.

“The thought behind launching this revamped health insurance policy was led by the desire to find ways of building a workplace that practices diversity and inclusivity," says Anuradha Bharat, vice-president, people operations, Razorpay. She adds that with this initiative, "Razorpay is revolutionising ‘caregiving’ by extending coverage beyond the traditional definitions of a family.”

Insurance regulator Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI), in its April 2019 advisory, had asked insurance companies to ensure the LGBTQ community employees get all types of health insurance benefits.

Under its revamped policy, Razorpay will cover gender reassignment surgery without a cost limitation, and "only subject to co-pay", which is 10% for all claims. Under co-pay, a policyholder has to pay some portion of the claim from their own pocket.

As part of the maternity benefit cover, Razorpay will include coverage for infertility treatment or any post-delivery issue. It has increased the maternity benefit cover from ₹50,000 to ₹75,000. For those seeking ayurvedic treatment, the new insurance policy will cover specific scenarios like long-term treatments for slip disc, back pain, migraine, sinus, and bone-related surgeries.

Under the bereavement and widow-widower benefit policy, introduced during the early days of the pandemic, the existing policy involved a 10% co-pay for employees. "Razorpay has decided to waive off the 10% in the unfortunate event of demise during hospitalisation under the bereavement benefit. Similarly, for the widow and widower benefit, the policy remains active for the remaining policy period for dependents, with the 10% co-pay waived off completely, in case of an employee's unfortunate demise.” The company says it had earlier taken initiatives such as “no-meeting days” and “wellness leaves” toward building a people-centric workplace.

Valued at over $7.5 billion, Razorpay serves over eight million businesses including Ola, Zomato, Swiggy and Cred. The startup claims to have achieved $60 billion in total payment volume (TPV) as of early December 2021.

The company says it plans to achieve a $90 billion total payment volume by the end of 2022. Backed by a spate of investors including Sequoia Capital, Tiger Global Management, GIC and Ribbit Capital, Razorpay has raised about $741 million in funding so far.

The company in February had acquired a majority stake in Malaysian fintech firm Curlec as it looks to gain a foothold in South East Asia, a market it holds key to its overall growth narrative. The acquisition marked Razorpay’s first international expansion. Razorpay CEO & co-founder Harshil Mathur had said the deal valued Curlec at about $19-20 million.

Notably, many companies have come up with changes in their insurance policies to incorporate people from the LGBTQ+ community in the recent past. FMCG major Procter & Gamble India extended financial and medical benefits, including hospitalisation cover, to its LGBTQ+ employees from April 2022. Industry leaders like Tata group, Citibank, RBS, and Capgemini, among others have also come up with their medical cover or family health insurance plans to incorporate the LGBTQ+ employees.