There are a total of 10,46,163 motor accident claims pending in the country, amounting to INR 80,455 crore. The number of these claims has been consistently increasing from 2018-19 to 2022-23, as revealed through information obtained via the RTI Act. These details were shared by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) in response to a query submitted by Supreme Court advocate K C Jain in April.Jain submitted a query to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to inquire about the total number of pending motor accident claims in the country, including state- and district-wise details.
He also wanted to understand the yearly distribution of claims filed, resolved, and pending over the past five years. Additionally, he inquired about any steps taken by the Centre to expedite the resolution of motor accident claims.
According to the information provided by IRDAI, the number of pending motor accident claims at the end of the financial years 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22, and 2022-23 were 9,09,166, 9,39,160, 10,08,332, 10,39,323, and 10,46,163, respectively. The corresponding claim amounts were INR 52,713 crore, INR 61,051 crore, INR 70,722 crore, INR 74,718 crore, and INR 80,455 crore.
On regional-level breakup of information, the IRDAI stated, “District-wise and state-wise details of motor third party claims are not available with IRDAI, as IRDAI does not collect or maintain such granular information.”
The Agra-based lawyer cited the data and mentioned that the number of pending claims has been increasing every year. Additionally, there is a delay in processing claims for the dependents of deceased and injured individuals in road accidents.
The road safety activist also raised concerns over the “snail pace’ of claim settlements, estimating that it takes an average four years for a victim to get financial relief.
“If we look at the pace of claim settlements, the number of pending cases at the beginning of the financial year 2022-23 was 10,39,323, and the number of new claims received this year was 4,54,944. Consequently, the overall count of pending claims reached 14,94,267, with only 4,48,104 cases being resolved, accounting for just 29% of the total cases. Therefore, on average, it is estimated that it takes four years to decide a claim,” he said.”
Jain has filed an interlocutory application in the Supreme Court under a civil writ petition due to the excessive delays in resolving motor accident claims. He is demanding the formulation of an interim payment scheme by the central government under Section 164A of the Motor Vehicles Act to provide relief to victims of road accidents.
“It is suggested that this amount be at least INR 5,00,000 for fatal cases and INR 2,50,000 for injury cases, as per the no-fault liability under Section 164 of the MV Act,” he added.
(Source- PTI)
