Motor accident awards to be settled electronically

A procedure has been worked out for the speedy settlement of motor accident awards and transfer of monies to needy claimants. The agreed procedure was filed before the Supreme Court on 13 March.

Additional solicitor general (ASG) Mr Jayant Sud held rounds of talks to draw up the process which will be carried out almost entirely through emails, without even requiring the claimant's presence before a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT), reported Times of India.

Under the agreed procedure, the insurer will have to deposit the compensation amount awarded by tribunals through the real-time gross settlement (RTGS) system or the national electronic fund transfer (NEFT) system in a bank account opened by each MACT. The concerned MACT will then transfer the money remitted by insurers to claimants' accounts.

For this purpose, the ASG suggested to the Supreme Court that all police stations, MACTs and insurers have to maintain exclusive email accounts for communication on filing reports and insurance claims as well as awards for compensation for accidents occurring within the jurisdiction of a MACT. The email addresses of police, insurance companies, and MACT shall be displayed prominently at each police station, tribunal and insurance company offices for the benefit of claimants, the ASG said in his submission.

The central government and states agreed that the MACT will issue summons through email to the insurance company along with the police report and the claim application. "The insurers shall email their offer of compensation for settling the claim to the tribunal as well as the claimant. The MACT shall consider the offer and demand of the insurer and claimant and pass an award and email it to both the insurer and claimant," the ASG said.

Mr Sud, in consultation with counsel for state governments, said that "the police shall collect the documents relevant to the accident and for computation of compensation and shall verify the information and documents. These documents shall form part of the police report sent through email to the jurisdictional MACT and the concerned insurer."

The kin of the deceased could also send her/his claim application to the MACT by email. At present, before this new procedure is implemented, claimants tend to have to run around to receive settlements that had been awarded by tribunals because insurers mostly avoided immediate payment of the awards on the grounds that they have appealed against the sums awarded.

Around 450,000 road accidents take place across the country each year, causing 150,000 deaths.

Source: Asia Insurance Review

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