Humayun Khan  

Consultant – Motor and Legal      

General Insurance Council                 

              

India has the highest number of road accident fatalities in the world. Various reasons have been ascribed for large number of road accidents in the country. Rash and negligent driving, poor road infrastructure, inadequate lighting, improper signage and potholes are some of the major causes of road accidents in the country. Many roads are not designed properly resulting in accident-prone stretches. Condition of the vehicles also play a significant role in road accidents. Non availability of immediate medical aid to the grievously injured accident victims, especially during the golden hour period, results in deaths in many instances where lives could have been saved.

Loss of lives and livelihoods due to road accidents result in significant hardships to the victims and their families. Such road accidents, where the vehicle causing injury or death to a person(s) cannot be identified or traced, are known as ‘Hit and Run Motor Vehicle accidents.’ Since details of offending vehicle are not known, the injured victim or the legal heir of the deceased cannot claim compensation through the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT). Hit and Run Motor Accidents Scheme-2022 comes to the aid of such victims and their families.

 

Historical Overview:

· The concept of compensating victims of 'Hit and Run' accidents was first introduced in 1982 as an amendment to the Motor Vehicles Act, 1939.

· Subsequently, the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 incorporated the Solatium Fund Scheme, 1989.

· This initial compensation framework was last revised in 1994.

· The Solatium Fund Scheme of 1989 was replaced by the "Compensation to Victims of Hit and Run Motor Accidents Scheme, 2022."

· the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) set up the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund vide gazette notification No. GSR 162 (E) dated 25 February 2022. This Fund is to be utilized for providing compensation to victims of hit and run motor accidents and to provide cashless treatment to all road accident victims.

· Three Current Accounts are mandated to be opened for the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund. Namely:

1. Account for Insured Vehicles.

2. Account for Un-insured Vehicles.

3. Hit and Run Compensation Account.

At present only one account – i.e. Hit and Run Compensation Account has been made functional and it is being utilized for payment of compensation to the victims of Hit and Run motor vehicle accidents since 1st April 2022. An initial amount of Rs 76.28 crore was ceded into this account by New India Assurance Co. Ltd. from the erstwhile Solatium Fund.

· While claims are being paid under “Compensation to Victims of Hit and Run Motor Accidents Scheme-2022, which was notified under GSR 163 (E) dated 25.02.2022, the necessary framework for cashless treatment is under formulation.

· General Insurance (GI) Council has been designated for day-to-day management and maintenance of accounts of the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund and for payment of compensation to the victims of hit and run and for cashless treatment of all motor accidents occurring on or after 1st April 2022. Claims pertaining to earlier period continue to be processed under the Solatium Scheme by the New India Assurance Co

 

Compensation to Victims of Hit and Run Motor Accidents Scheme -2022

Amount of compensation has now been revised as follows:

· Rs. 2 lakhs for death (earlier it was Rs 25,000)

· Rs. 50,000 for grievous hurt (earlier it was Rs 12,500).

Procedure for claim payment is as follows:

1. Application seeking compensation is made by the claimant or legal representative in Form-I along with an undertaking in Form-IV to the Enquiry Officer of the Sub-Division in which the accident has taken place.

2. The Enquiry Officer is required to obtain First Accident Report, Postmortem Report, Death or Injury Certificate from the concerned authorities and ID proof and Bank A/c details from the claimant. He holds an enquiry in respect of the claim arising out of Hit and Run Motor Accident and submits his report

in Form-II along with the supporting documents to the Claim Settlement Commissioner within 30 days.

3. The Claim Settlement Commissioner is required to sanction the claim amount and then to communicate sanction order in Form-III along with Forms I, II & IV and supporting documents to General Insurance Council within 15 days of the receipt of Enquiry report.

4. The General Insurance Council (GIC) on receipt of sanction order in Form-III and the relevant documents is required to make e-payment to the bank account, as provided by the claimant or the legal representative of the deceased, within 15 days.

Outstanding Hit and Run Claims position at GI Council since 01/04/2022:

2022-2023 (entire year)

It is evident from above table that no. of claims received by Council is increasing very rapidly over the months. While the total no. of claims received during FY 20222-2023 was only 205, during the first half of current FY (2023-2024) already

1362 claims have been received. Thus the no. of claims has increased to about 7 times in the last six months.

According to available data the average no. of Hit and Run accidents in India resulting in grievous hurt or death in any one year is about 25000. Out of the total 28 States and 8 UTs in the country, only 10 states and 1 UT have contributed to the total no. of 1362 claims in the current year. With more public awareness and participation of remaining states and UTs, no. of claims in the coming months is expected to increase very rapidly.

As on 30/09/2023 a total of 1075 claims are still outstanding. There is an urgent need to take necessary steps to expedite claim payment process at the Council.

 

Factors causing delay in payment of claims

1. Non receipt / receipt of partially filled/ unsigned/ unsealed / illegible one or more documents copy–Forms, Bank Passbook, FIR, Death Certificate, PMR, ID & address proof etc in first mail/ post.

2. New forms awaited in lieu of old Solatium forms submitted.

3. Clarifications/ corrections required to confirm Hit & Run, difference in age, name, address of victim, date of accident etc in submitted documents.

4. Deficit manpower for processing rapidly increasing no. of claims.

5. Absence of a software-based platform for handling claims.

 

Proposed measures to facilitate and expedite claim payment.

a) Information on the procedure for filing Hit and Run Claims, link to download the relevant forms I, II, II & IV and a detailed information booklet on Hit and Run Claims have been uploaded G I Council on its website: https://www.gicouncil.in 

b) Details of insurance nominated DLC members and State level coordinators have been uploaded on Council’s website to facilitate claim process in the districts.

c) On receipt, each set of claim documents is scrutinized at the Council and requirements, if any, are communicated to the district authorities through mail.

d) Information Booklet on Hit and Run Motor Accident Compensation Claims is proposed to be printed in sufficient nos. by the Council and provided to its DLCs members for reference and complete guidance.

e) The Council plans to increase staff strength of its Hit and Run Claims Team to expedite payment.

f) Council has constituted an expert committee for development of Hit and Run software platform to facilitate and expedite claim payment.

 

Opportunity for serving a great social cause

From data available on settlement of claims from the Solatium Fund Scheme during the last 5 years, it is apparent that the total no. of claims settled each year by New India Assurance varied in the range of 800 to 1250 cases only. Since the no. of hit and run victims each year in the country is estimated to be around 25000, it is quite apparent that the no. of claims settled in past years have been a very small percent of the actual requirement.

Now if through creation of public awareness and by involvement of the State machinery, it could be ensured that claim applications by even half of the estimated 25000 hit and run victims are filed, the no. of beneficiaries in a year would go beyond 12500, which is ten times of the no. of claims paid during any of these years.

The Council is at the threshold of revolutionizing the status of hit and run claim payments in the coming times. Providing support to the victims of road accidents and their families in their hour of need is a great social cause. The Council is well placed to make a substantial contribution to this cause and to our nation’s commitment to its citizens ensuring justice and support.