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Bihar looks to simplify road accident claims, fast-track ex-gratia
PATNA: Bihar is set to become the first state to simplify claims of road traffic accident (RTA) insurance by removing the victims or their dependants from the litigation process and paying them an interim ex-gratia amount of ₹5 lakh within 15 days in the event of a death, officials aware of the matter said
PATNA: Bihar is set to become the first state to simplify claims of road traffic accident (RTA) insurance by removing the victims or their dependants from the litigation process and paying them an interim ex-gratia amount of ₹5 lakh within 15 days in the event of a death, officials aware of the matter said.
The state will also take the onus to contest the case in court, on behalf of the victim, if the insurance firm of the accused vehicle owner decides to challenge the order, the people quoted above said.
From September 15, the state is to set implement the new amendment to the Bihar Motor Vehicle Rules that empower the state transport appellate tribunal to settle all such accident claims within 60 days. The new amendment was notified in the Bihar gazette on August 11 after a cabinet order.
So far, road traffic accident insurance claims are tried in the civil court and cases can linger on for years.
“This is the first of its kind initiative in India to simplify accident claims,” said Bihar’s transport secretary, Sanjay Kumar Agarwal.
The new rules allow immediate payment of ₹5 lakh as interim compensation in case of a death and ₹50,000 for grievous injury to dependants or victims of road traffic accidents involving vehicles that are insured, uninsured or involved in hit-and-run cases. The compensation for grievous injury is proposed to be increased from ₹50,000 to ₹2.5 lakh.
As part of the new rules, victims or their relatives will not have to run from pillar to post for the settlement of claims, people quoted above said. The state will pay the interim compensation and also take the responsibility of fighting a legal suit on behalf of the victim if an insurance firm were to challenge its order.
“We have set up a revolving corpus of ₹50 crore under the Bihar motor vehicle accident assistance fund through which such payments will be made,” said Agarwal.
In case of insured vehicles, the state will pay the compensation to the victim or their dependants through the corpus fund and recover the amount from the insurance firm after the tribunal settles the case within the stipulated 60 days, he added.
For uninsured vehicles, the state will recover the compensation amount by auctioning the vehicle if its vehicle owner is unable to pay the compensation to the victim’s family. Should the amount realised through auction be less than the compensation fixed, the state will bear the difference amount through the Bihar motor vehicle accident assistance fund, said Agarwal.
Nearly 20% of about 1.4 million registered vehicles in the state till 2019-20 do not renew their insurance, according to estimates. “We will start a special drive to check for insurance of motor vehicles soon,” he added.
For hit-and-run case, the compensation amount will be borne through the state’s corpus fund and replenished partially by the Centre through insurance companies, which pay ₹50,000. The state will bear the remaining ₹4,50,000 in deaths involving hit-and-run cases.
Under the changed rules, all sub-divisional officers (SDO) will be the accident claim inquiry officer and district magistrates (DM) the accident claims assessment officer. The SDO conducts the inquiry on the basis of site inspection done by the police and the motor vehicle inspector.
“The changed rules do not mandate any site inspection or examination of witness at the trial stage. If challenged, the case will be adjudicated on the basis of a summary trial based on the petition of the victim or their relatives, deposition by the insurance firm and reports by the police, the SDO and DM,” said Agarwal.
In case the tribunal or a higher court awards a higher compensation, the difference of the amount already paid as interim compensation would be credited into the bank account of the victim’s family. However, in case of an adverse order for the government, the interim amount already paid as compensation to the family of the victim will not be taken back but adjusted through the Bihar motor vehicle accident assistance fund.
Bihar ranks 15th in India in terms of road accidents and ninth in terms of fatalities arising out of them, as per data released by the ministry of road transport and highways (MoRT&H) in 2019.
Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat are among states which rank higher than Bihar both in terms of number of road accidents and deaths.
