Apple Watch scheme: HDFC Ergo claims step-count data manipulated; participants unsure about cashbacknews24

After a backlash on social media over HDFC Ergo walking back on its promise to return cash to customers who bought Apple Watches under its India Gets Moving initiative, the company has started making payments based on their step-counts.

The insurer said it had rejected claims of only those who allegedly manipulated their step-count data. However, many people who genuinely achieved their step-count targets faced claim rejections initially.

HDFC Ergo, in association with Zopper and Apple, launched the initiative in November 2024 to promote and incentivise healthy habits among customers buying an Apple Watch.

All customers had to do was purchase an Apple Watch from an authorised reseller in India (offline channels only) and download HDFC Ergo’s mobile app to sync the watch’s health data with the app. Customers would earn wellness points based on their daily step count, which could be redeemed for cash every month.

A step-count of over 15,000 a day would earn the customer 4 points. For 12,001 to 15,000 steps, the reward is 3 points, 10,001 to 12,000 steps, 2 points and 8,001 to 10,000 steps, 1 point. Depending on the step count, a customer would be able to get back the entire amount paid for the Apple Watch – or a part of it – after one year.

Surprise rejection

Those who participated in the initiative were also made part of the Sarv Suraksha Plus group policy that offers personal accident cover of ₹1 lakh along with other benefits such as access to health and wellness webinars, free first session of personal mental health coaching with experts and a one-time lifestyle and health score check.

However, much to the surprise of the customers, when they started claiming the cashback amount a month later, they received a mail from HDFC Ergo saying their policy was being terminated because the steps were registered in an “unethical” way. Moreover, the insurance company changed the period for crediting the amount after the claim to 30 days from 5-7 days stated in the document.

Nikhil Dhawan is a Noida-based fitness enthusiast who walks or runs 15,000 steps every day. The India Gets Moving initiative made him excited and he bought the watch. However, the company rejected his cashback claim and terminated the policy.

“I had genuinely completed the challenge. I used to do it anyway. I could have produced proof my heart and pulse rate, but they did not specify on what grounds my step-count appeared ingenuine,” said Dhawan.

Late last week, Dhawan received a mail that his claim had been approved, and the payment was being processed.

“You may expect to receive funds in your account shortly. In addition to your claim being approved, your policy shall be reinstated, and you will be able to continue with the India Gets Moving programme,” the insurer said in the mail.

Mumbai-based Vinayak Chougule also received a rejection mail before it was settled late last week.

“There was no clarification on why policies were getting terminated for people who had genuinely tracked their steps day in and day out. Suddenly, they started clearing claims. I am still unsure if the refund will continue for the remaining 11 months. They started clearing it this month probably because the issue got highlighted to a large scale,” said Chougule.

Many customers contacted Apple directly to rectify their step counts.

“We checked with them on what basis a third-party app, that is HDFC Ergo’s app, is detecting unhealthy steps. Apple clearly stated to us that any steps counted by the watch or iPhone are 100% genuine,” he said.

Genuine claims

However, Mumbai-based Amit Jadhav was one of the lucky few who received the cashback in the first attempt. He bought the Apple Watch on 7 December and filed the claim exactly a month later.

“I did not aim for the maximum points. I kept doing what I usually do. I completed 15,000 steps only on a few days. It was mostly about 12,000 steps. Probably that is why they did not suspect my step count and cleared it soon after I filed the claim,” said Jadhav.

HDFC Ergo told Mint that all valid claims were being cleared.

“We at HDFC ERGO have been thoroughly assessing the step counts of our policyholders and have been paying all the genuine claims to the customers under this insurance programme, as per the terms and conditions, and will continue to do so in future,” the company said. “As a ‘Customer First’ organisation, we will continue to honour our commitments. As a leading health insurer of India, we consider it as our duty to encourage citizens to adopt a healthy lifestyle, and we hope that this programme will motivate a large number of people to prioritise their health and wellness.”

The company added that in the case of a few individuals, it had come across unusual and suspicious data.

“Upon conducting a thorough investigation, it was found that there has been manipulation of data by a small group of participants, which violates the terms and conditions of the programme. As a result, we have been constrained to terminate policies of certain participants,” it said.

The company did not provide details of how many people participated in the initiative and the number and amount of claims settled so far.