Mumbai, Maharashtra, India | 23rdDecember 2025: Zuno General Insurance, a new-age digital insurer focused on simplicity, transparency and customer-first innovation, has reported strong early traction for Zuno SmartDrive, its app-led usage-based car insurance (UBI) solution launched in March 2025. In under nine months, users of Zuno SmartDrive have collectively logged over 1 crore kilometres, highlighting a growing shift among Indian motorists towards behaviour-driven, personalised motor insurance.
Zuno Opens Driving Quotient (ZDQ) Challenge to All Users
To expand awareness and adoption of usage-based insurance, Zuno has opened its flagship Zuno Driving Quotient (ZDQ) Challenge to non-Zuno customers as well. As part of this five-day free trial, users can download the Zuno app, complete a driving assessment and receive a personalised driving score at no cost.
The ZDQ score unlocks exclusive car insurance discounts and gift vouchers, making Zuno the first insurer in India to introduce a large-scale, app-based pre-purchase driving assessment that delivers tangible financial rewards to customers.
Young, Digital-First Drivers Lead Adoption
Since its launch, Zuno SmartDrive has recorded over 1.5 lakh trips from digital-first drivers across India, with an impressive average driving score of 92%. The majority of participants fall within the 28–40 age group, reflecting strong engagement from India’s most mobile and tech-savvy consumers.
This adoption reinforces the growing acceptance of telematics-based insurance models, where driving behaviour—not geography or vehicle type—determines risk and rewards.
Driving Behaviour Emerges as the Key Risk Indicator
Zuno’s telematics data reveals that frequent harsh braking and rapid acceleration are the two strongest predictors of lower driving scores and higher future claims risk, regardless of location.
Key regional insights include:
- Metro cities such as Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kolkata recorded an average driving score of 91%, influenced by congestion and erratic traffic patterns.
- Jammu & Kashmir, Punjab and Tamil Nadu emerged as the safest driving states, each maintaining average scores above 92%, supported by lower instances of harsh braking and sudden acceleration.
- Speeding trends were more prominent in Pune and Kolkata, while harsh braking was frequently observed in Guntur and Vizianagaram.
These findings underline how real-world traffic environments shape driving behaviour across India.
Safe Driving Directly Reduces Claims Risk
Zuno’s data further shows a strong correlation between disciplined driving and lower claims exposure:
- Drivers with top-tier scores (96–100) demonstrate a 40% lower claims risk.
- Gender has minimal impact on driving safety, with women scoring an average of 92.83% and men 92.81%.
- High-quality driving behaviour is most common during weekday daytime travel, reinforcing higher risks associated with night-time driving.
- Seasonal changes have limited impact on safe drivers, with high scorers maintaining consistency across summer and monsoon seasons.
Addressing India’s Road Safety Challenge
India continues to face a severe road safety crisis. Provisional MoRTH data for 2024 indicates over 4.7 lakh road accidents and 1.7 lakh fatalities, with final figures expected once pending state data is released. This aligns with MoRTH’s 2023 data, which recorded 4.81 lakh accidents and 1.73 lakh deaths, translating to nearly 20 deaths every hour.
These statistics highlight the urgent need for prevention-led, technology-driven road safety solutions.
Real-Time Crash Detection Enhances Driver Safety
Zuno SmartDrive also features India’s first real-time crash detection system powered by mobile telematics. In the event of an accident, the app automatically triggers an alert to Zuno’s support team, enabling immediate emergency coordination, roadside assistance and priority claims handling—without requiring the customer to make a call.
Leadership Perspective
Commenting on the milestone, Shanai Ghosh, MD & CEO, Zuno General Insurance, said:
“With SmartDrive, we aim to create a fair, transparent and personalised insurance experience that truly reflects how young India drives. The early data shows that drivers are becoming safer and more mindful, and they are being rewarded for it. Our mission is to build a simpler, more intuitive ecosystem where good driving behaviour translates into real benefits and safer roads for everyone.”
