Road accident claim compensation iii

1. Road Accident Claim Compensation
(Part - 3)
- Ayushma Sharma

2. Road Accident Claim Compensation
➢ Claim Application
➢ Restrictions for Claims under Motor Vehicles Act, 1988
➢ Reasons why the Motor Accident Claims get rejected
➢ Motor Vehicles (Amendment), 2019

3. Claim Application
➢ For the claimant to file a claim application he has two options :
● under Section 163 A of the Act where the claim is assessed based on ‘Structured Formula’.
● under Section 166 of the Act where the judge assesses the case based on the evidence available.
➢ The application can be against any of the following people :
● Owner of the vehicle
● Driver
● Insurer
➢ Once the complaint about the accident has been registered by the police it is then forwarded to the
Claims Tribunal within 30 days from the date the report was prepared.

4. Restrictions for Claims under Motor Vehicles Act,
1988
➢ Some restrictions are always there in every provision. The same thing happens claims are made in
the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. Given below are the limitations that have been put on the claims
under the Act of 1988 :
● Section 163 states that if a claimant is authorized to claim compensation under both the sections,
i.e., Section 140 and Section 163 A then he can file his petition under only one of the sections and
not both of them
● After awarding of compensation, the person who is supposed to pay the amount has to pay it within
the 30 days of giving the judgment
● Even though the amount of compensation has been standardized under the Act (Rs 50,000/- in case
of death and Rs 25,000/- in case of injury) the Court still has the liberty to enhance the
compensation
● In case there is a delay in giving judgment then the simple interest will be applied to the number of
cases from the date of the accident

5. Reasons why the claims get rejected
➢ Some of the cases why the claim gets rejected are as follows:
● Where there is inappropriate use of the vehicle. Inappropriate use of vehicles incorporates
situations where the vehicle is parked at some wrong side or overloading of vehicle than the
prescribed limit
● If the person is driving without a legal driving license and meets with an accident
● If the person is drunk while driving, or under the influence of any type of intoxicant substance
● If the insurance policy of the vehicle is expired then it hasn’t been renewed
● If the vehicle involved in the accident is second hand and its insurance has not been in the name of
the new owner
● If after the accident the owner has repaired the vehicle himself. After doing so he asks the
insurance company for insurance then there are chances that it would be rejected since the insurer
couldn’t see the cause of the accident first

6. Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill,1988
➢ The Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Bill was introduced in Lok Sabha which later on passed it. Now,
the Bill is pending for consideration before the Rajya Sabha.
➢ The Bill seeks to amend the following heads in the present Motor Vehicles Act, 1988:
● Compensation for the victims
● Compulsory Insurance
● Good Samaritans
● Recall of Vehicles
● Road Safety Board
● National Transport Policy
● Offences and Penalties