New Delhi: Every year about five lakh people are killed or injured in road accidents in India. After these accidents, a large number of claims for compensation are filed in the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT). Now the Supreme Court has given its verdict that the compensation amount should be transferred directly to the bank account of the victims (DBT), so that they can get relief soon and there is no delay.
Supreme Court's order so that there is no delay in getting compensation
Usually, insurance companies first deposit the compensation amount in the tribunal, which takes a long time for the money to reach the victims. Many times the victims are not even aware that any compensation has been deposited for them. In view of this problem, the Supreme Court has directed to adopt the method of digital transfer (DBT). In one case, the High Court had fixed the compensation at Rs 12 lakh, but the Supreme Court increased it to Rs 36.8 lakh. The bench of Justice J.K. Maheshwari and Justice Rajesh Bindal said that the tribunal can be directed to transfer the compensation amount directly to the claimant's bank account and give its information to the tribunal.
Now the tribunal will be able to get bank account information
The Supreme Court said that the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) should take the bank account information from the victims at the very beginning. This will enable insurance companies to deposit compensation directly into their account without any delay. The court also said that when the tribunal gives its final verdict, the insurance companies should immediately transfer the money through digital payment (DBT).
The statistics of road accidents in the last five years are worrying
Thousands of people die and lakhs are injured every year due to road accidents in India. The Supreme Court has given this decision in view of the data of the last five years:
- 2018: 1.5 lakh deaths, 4.6 lakh injured
- 2019: 1.5 lakh deaths, 4.4 lakh injured
- 2020: 1.3 lakh deaths, 3.4 lakh injured
- 2021: 1.5 lakh deaths, 3.8 lakh injured
- 2022: 1.6 lakh deaths, 4.4 lakh injured
Emphasis on adopting digital payments
The Supreme Court said that India has made significant progress in adopting the digital payment system. Now the time has come that tribunals and insurance companies should also adopt this system, so that victims do not have to wait for months to get compensation. After this decision, accident victims will be able to get compensation quickly and easily. Now there will be no need to go to the tribunal, as the money will reach directly to the bank account. This order of the Supreme Court is also considered an important step for road safety. This will increase the confidence of the people that if they become victims of any accident, they will get justice quickly and their financial problems will be reduced.
