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Supreme Court orders national digital net to record road crashes, curb fake accident claims
The directions seek to create a national digital trail for each road crash that can both speed up compensation for genuine victims.
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The Supreme Court has directed all states to upload road accident data on the Electronic Detailed Accident Report (eDAR) portal without delay and ordered the integration of vehicle registration, driving licence and insurance databases to detect fraudulent claims and expedite compensation for genuine victims.
A bench of justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and PB Varale directed the Centre, states and other authorities to complete the exercise and file compliance reports within four weeks.
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The integrated system must also cover hit-and-run cases and the PM-RAHAT cashless treatment scheme, enabling insurers to receive early alerts about accidents.
Interlinking of multiple platforms
The order, released on Thursday, is part of the court’s continuing proceedings on alleged large-scale fraud in motor accident insurance claims.
The court had earlier directed every state to establish a dedicated special investigation team (SIT) to probe suspected fraud.
The bench ordered the interlinking of VAHAN, the national vehicle-registration database; SARATHI, which holds driving licence details; eDAR, which digitises accident reports; and the Insurance Information Bureau (IIB), which maintains insurance-related data.
It also directed that the portals of all concerned ministries be linked. The eDAR portal, operated by the National Informatics Centre, facilitates motor accident compensation claims. Noting that only a few states had begun uploading data, the court directed all states to ensure that relevant information was uploaded “without any delay”.
The integration would allow accident claims to be cross-checked against police records, vehicle and driver details, insurance coverage and previous claims. Discrepancies, including repeated claims involving the same vehicle in unrelated accidents or claims unsupported by contemporaneous eDAR records, could be flagged for investigation.
The court had also directed insurers to forward all claims indicative of fraud to state SITs, warning against a “pick and choose” approach.
Notices issues to insurance companies
Insurers were asked to examine whether their employees had facilitated or participated in fraudulent claims.
The bench issued contempt show-cause notices to several insurance companies over alleged non-compliance with earlier orders.
A notice was issued to Vaibhav Goyal, managing director and chief executive of Navi General Insurance. The company said a Supreme Court notice received on April 18 had not been brought to its officers’ attention and that those responsible had been suspended.
Rejecting the apology as “cosmetic and not heartfelt”, the court directed Goyal to file a personal affidavit explaining why contempt action should not be initiated.
Notices were also issued to New India Assurance, Zuno General Insurance and General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re). Zuno chief executive Shubhdarshini Ghosh was given a final opportunity to file a fresh affidavit and directed to appear personally at the next hearing.
The court granted Zuno General Insurance’s managing director and chief executive, Shubhdarshini Ghosh, a final opportunity to file a fresh affidavit after taking exception to her explanation that pre-scheduled official commitments in Mumbai prevented her from being physically present despite being informed five days in advance. She has been directed to be personally present at the next date.
The bench also gave states that had not formed SITs a final four-week deadline. The matter will next be heard on November 27.
