Annual Insurance Premium for Boat Owners under Financial Assistance for Availing Subsidy Components for the Development of Marine Fisheries

What is the Annual Insurance Premium subsidy for boat owners?

Annual Insurance Premium for Boat Owners is a recurring subsidy of the Department of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare, Government of Puducherry. It is one sub-component of the Union Territory's umbrella scheme, Financial Assistance for Availing Subsidy Components for the Development of Marine Fisheries, and it exists to keep Puducherry's mechanised fishing fleet insured.

Marine hull insurance is expensive and, for a small owner-operator, easy to let lapse in a bad season. An uninsured boat that is lost in a cyclone or a collision takes the family's entire livelihood with it, and the Department has no instrument to make good a loss on an uninsured vessel. By meeting half the premium up to a ceiling, the scheme lowers the annual cash outlay enough that owners keep the cover current year on year.

The Department's stated objective is framed in production terms: increasing marine fish production by extending subsidies on the annual premiums paid by registered mechanised boat operators. The practical effect is a risk-management subsidy.

How much does the insurance premium subsidy pay?

The pattern of assistance is:

• 50% of the annual insurance premium
• subject to a maximum of Rs 20,000 per boat

Worked through, that means a boat carrying a Rs 24,000 annual premium receives Rs 12,000, a boat at Rs 40,000 receives the full Rs 20,000 cap, and a boat at Rs 50,000 also receives Rs 20,000 because the ceiling bites. The subsidy is therefore proportionally more valuable to the owners of smaller, cheaper-to-insure craft.

The Department attaches a standing note that the rate of subsidy and the maximum limit may be revised by the Government from time to time, in response to changes in insurance dynamics, economic factors or policy considerations. The figures in an older notification are indicative rather than permanent, and the sanction you receive governs.

Because the claim is annual and tied to the premium actually paid, this is one of the few Puducherry fisheries subsidies a boat owner can expect to draw repeatedly rather than once.

Who is eligible for the boat insurance premium subsidy?

You can apply if:

• You belong to the fishermen community, or you are professionally engaged in fishing or the fish trade full-time, or you are a prospective entrepreneur in the fishing business.
• You have resided in the Union Territory of Puducherry for a continuous period of not less than five years at the time of applying.
• You are enrolled as a member of a Fishermen Co-operative Society.
• You are above 23 and below 60 years of age.
• You possess a registered mechanised boat, that is, a boat registered and numbered by the Department of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare in Puducherry.
• You have insured the boat on an annual basis with an authorised insurance company.

You cannot apply if:

• You are a recipient of the Old Age Pension issued by the Department.
• You are employed in Government, a Government undertaking or a Fishermen Co-operative Society.
• You have dues outstanding to the Department or to a Fishermen Co-operative Society on the date of application.
• Your boat is not registered with the Department, or is registered as something other than a mechanised boat.
• The boat is uninsured, or insured with an insurer not authorised to cover marine risks to fishing boats.
• You are aged 60 or above, or below 23, or have lived in Puducherry for less than five continuous years.

A crew member who works on someone else's boat is not eligible under this component, because the subsidy attaches to the premium paid by the owner.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the insurance premium subsidy

1. Renew or take out the marine insurance first. Insure the registered mechanised boat on an annual basis with an authorised insurance company and keep the policy document and the premium receipt, because the subsidy is calculated on the premium actually paid.
2. Visit the Department office. Go to the Directorate of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare at the Fishing Harbour Complex, Thengaithittu, Mudaliarpet Post, Puducherry 605 004, or to the regional sub-office serving Karaikal, Mahe or Yanam.
3. Request the prescribed application form for the marine fisheries subsidy components in hard copy from the concerned authority, or download it from fisheries.py.gov.in.
4. Fill in every mandatory field, paste the passport-sized photograph and sign across it where required, and attach self-attested copies of the identity, age, residence, society membership and no-dues documents together with the boat registration proof and the insurance policy and premium receipt.
5. Submit the completed form and enclosures to the concerned authority at that office.
6. Ask for a dated receipt or acknowledgement carrying the date and time of submission and a unique identification number for follow-up.

How is the claim verified and decided?

The Department runs a two-stage check. First, an officer not below the rank of Sub-Inspector of Fisheries conducts a field inquiry into the genuineness of the application, and the scheme implementing officer, normally an Assistant Director or Deputy Director of Fisheries, records the verification and recommendation.

Second, the file goes to the Departmental Selection Committee, headed by the Director of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare. For the Puducherry region the committee comprises the Director, the Joint Director, the Deputy Director (Welfare), the Secretary of the Puducherry State Fishermen Co-operative Federation Limited and the Deputy Director (Mechanisation).

The Department states that eligible beneficiaries are shortlisted within 60 days from the commencement of field inquiry work.

How do I check the status of my application?

Quote the unique identification number on your acknowledgement and follow up at the office where you filed. The application receipt register maintained at each office is the record of status; there is no dedicated online tracker for this component. Where the claim was routed through the Puducherry e-District portal at edistrict.py.gov.in, the portal's Track Application page can be used with the application number issued there.

Why applications get rejected, and how to fix them

• Boat not registered with the Department of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare, or the registration number lapsed.
• Premium receipt not produced. The subsidy is calculated on the actual premium, so the receipt is the load-bearing document.
• Insurer not authorised for marine risk on fishing boats.
• Dues outstanding with the Department or the co-operative society, which the field inquiry picks up.
• Age 60 or above on the date of application.
• Residence certificate covering less than five continuous years. Ask the Deputy Tahsildar to certify the full period.
• Applicant is not the owner of the insured boat.

The scheme documentation does not describe a formal appeal once the Selection Committee has completed shortlisting, so the practical remedy is to correct the defect and file again for the following policy year.

Where to raise a grievance

Contact the Directorate of Fisheries and Fishermen Welfare, Fishing Harbour Complex, Thengaithittu, Mudaliarpet Post, Puducherry 605 004, telephone 0413-2357761, email fish[dot]pon[at]nic[dot]in. Applicants in Karaikal, Mahe and Yanam should first approach the regional sub-office listed on the Sub-Offices page of fisheries.py.gov.in.

For emergencies at sea the Department lists the Indian Coast Guard toll-free number 1554, the Coastal Police Station number 1093 and the State Emergency Operation Centre number 1077. No fee is charged for the application form or for registration under this subsidy.