Mumbai | Private sector general insurer ICICI Lombard on Thursday launched an 'anywhere cashless' feature for its health insurance policyholders, which allows customers to avail cashless facilities even at non-empanelled hospitals.

Under this facility, which the company claimed is an industry-first initiative, customers will not have to bear any out-of-pocket expenses, which has been one of the major pain-points for customers.

It also said the new feature can be availed of through the 'IL takecare' app.

However, the company said the 'anywhere cashless' feature is subject to each hospital offering cashless facility and that for one to use this feature the policyholder must inform the company 24 hrs before admission.

The feature provides a hassle-free experience through all aspects of the hospitalization -- from admission to discharge.

It also lets customers choose a nearby or recommended hospital and focus on their family's well-being instead of dealing with insurance details at the time of treatment, said Alok Agarwal, the executive director of the company.

He further said the underlying mission is to expand insurance coverage in small towns and cities by establishing more network partners.

ICICI Lombard has issued over 29.3 million policies, settled 2.3 million claims and has a gross written premium of Rs 18,562 crore as of March 2022.