OneAssist, India’s highest-rated InsurTech platform, in collaboration with Hansa Research, has released The Great Indian Smartphone Protection Crisis, highlighting the growing gap between smartphone dependence and protection adoption in India. The study found that 82% of consumers have accidentally dropped their smartphones, while 72% have experienced accidental damage, yet current active protection adoption remains at just 6–8%. With smartphones becoming essential for work, banking, shopping, communication and entertainment, rising device costs and longer ownership cycles are increasing the financial impact of accidental damage.
The report also highlights significant behavioural differences among consumers. Women emerged as the most dependent and vulnerable smartphone users, with 94% having accidentally dropped their devices and 79% experiencing accidental damage. Meanwhile, consumers aged 26–30 were identified as India’s most connected cohort. The study also found that 70% of consumers consider protection plans more important for pre-owned devices, while 54% of non-metro consumers have purchased pre-owned smartphones, compared with 30% in metros, underscoring the growing importance of protection in India’s refurbished device market.
Commenting on the findings, Subrat Pani, Co-founder, OneAssist, said that smartphones have become indispensable to consumers, but many continue to navigate device ownership without protection despite frequent concerns about accidental damage and breakdown. Founded in 2011 by Gagan Maini and Subrat Pani, OneAssist protects over 3 crore active consumers through a pan-India service network and more than 3,000 partners. The report calls on smartphone brands, retailers, insurers and protection providers to make protection solutions more affordable, transparent, simple and accessible, helping build greater consumer trust throughout the device ownership journey.