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After SC nudge, Centre works on app to settle road accident claims
The insurance company will respond to the claim petitions and the accident reports on this platform, hastening the entire process.
An online platform accessible throughout India to victims of road accidents, tribunals, police and insurance companies for ensuring speedy disposal of compensation cases will soon be a reality.
Nudged by the Supreme Court, the Union government is in the process of developing an online application where victims of road accidents could register their claims while the police could upload accident reports on the platform. The insurance company will respond to the claim petitions and the accident reports on this platform, hastening the entire process.
On Tuesday, a bench of justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hrishikesh Roy took note of a submission by additional solicitor general Jayant Sud, representing the Centre, that all 26 public and private insurance companies in the country have agreed to the idea of having a common online application.
The ASG called it a “very positive development”, assuring the bench that the government was committed to making the app functional as soon as possible so as to fasten accountability on all authorities in motor accident cases while cutting delays in disbursing compensation to the victims.
The bench expressed satisfaction at the progress made in developing the common app and gave the Union government two months more to ready it.
During the hearing, the court lamented that motor accident cases remain pending for several years even though the family may need the financial support immediately. “You give a person ₹10 lakh after 10 or 15 years. What’s the point? He never had it when he needed it the most,” rued the bench.
Adjudicating a compensation case, the court had on March 16 issued a slew of directions to facilitate the process of disbursement of damages to the victims of road mishaps as well as for expediting the matters before the motor accident claims tribunal.
Aiming at expediting the entire process on disbursement of compensation in motor accident cases and laying down a uniform practice throughout the country, the bench had directed that the police shall send a detailed accident report involving death or injuries to a person in a road crash to the tribunal and the insurer through email within three months of the incident.
A claimant, the bench said, could also email the application for compensation with supporting documents to the insurer at the same time, following which the insurer shall email their offer of settlement and the tribunal will finally pass an award.
“Each tribunal shall create an email ID peculiar to its jurisdiction for receiving the emails from the police and the insurer as mentioned above. Similarly, all insurers throughout India shall also create an email ID peculiar to the jurisdiction of each claim tribunal,” ordered the court, adding that these email IDs will be displayed prominently by all the authorities concerned for public information.
At the same time, the bench had also noted that Tamil Nadu and Delhi were already operating online platforms for submission of accident reports by the police. “Each state having an independent online platform for submission of accident reports, claims and responses to claims, will hamper efficient adjudication of claims, especially where the victim of the accident is not a resident of the state where the accident has occurred. Therefore, the central government shall develop an online platform accessible to the tribunals, police authorities and insurers throughout India,” the court had directed In March.
On Tuesday, the bench further asked all states to comply with its previous directives and asked the ASG to submit a report in this regard where further directions are required.
