Everyday new vehicles are getting registered and new faster
vehicles are entering the market. The road space is getting crowded and the
development in infrastructure is not able to keep pace with the growing demand
of space on roads. The other aspect of this is in terms of increased number of
accidents in road accidents and more fatalities. In every accident resulting in
death there is a loss of near or dear ones but in some cases financial burden
on the surviving family member may lead to more problems, especially so if he
was the sole earning member in the family .
In every motor vehicle accident resulting in serious injury
or death a criminal case is lodged by the police and is pursued by the state in
which the surviving members of the family has no say. Therefore, there is an
urgent need for the act to be amended and in all such criminal cases the surviving
member should be a party in case if it wishes to. Besides these criminal and
civil case if any lodged in the criminal or civil courts the accident
victim/legal heirs/ surviving members of the family or a third party whose
property was damaged have a right to approach, under section 166 of Motor
Vehicles Act 1988, the Motor Accident Claim Tribunal which has the jurisdiction
over the area where the accident took place or where the claimant resides or
carries out his business or where the defendant resides. The decision in these cases
in the tribunal is quick and the compensation is awarded by the tribunal which
is paid by the insurance company. It is therefore, important that the insurance
company should be made a party in such proceedings. Following persons can make
a complaint for compensation in the tribunal:-
(a)
By a person who sustained injury.
(b)
By the owner of property.
(c)
Where death has resulted by all or the legal
representative of the deceased.
(d)
By any agent duly authorized by the person or
all or any of the legal representatives.
The Tribunal can adjudicate upon claims for compensation
when the accident involves death of a person or bodily injuries to a person or
damage to any property of a third person or both and when the accident arose
out of the use of motor vehicle.These tribunals are located in every district in the district civil courts.
Supreme Court in Civil Appeal number 9858 of 2013 arising
out of SLP(c) 1056 of 2008 dated 31 Oct 2013 have in order to streamline and
standardize the compensation to be paid to the victim, laid down clear cut
guidelines and table showing how the compensation is to be calculated. It can
be 18 times the income of the deceased after taking into account the money
spent on self maintenance for a young person to almost to five times in case
the age is between 66 to 70 years but above seventy is it not specified and considered to be zero. Hence a person above seventy years of age will not be able to claim any compensation from the insurance company through tribunal. It involves a three step process:-
1. Firstly ascertain the multiplicand. In this the
income of the deceased is determined and deductions out of this to be made
which the person would have spent on himself by way of personal and living expenses.
The balance is considered to be the family corpus. Income tax returns can be used to justify the income and have been accepted in some cases by the courts and tribunal
2.
Ascertain the Multiplier. A table has been
prepared by the supreme court where the multiplier is specified with reference to the
age of the deceased and should be used to calculate the multiplier. It is 18
for an age group from 15 to 25 and is then reduced by one point for every five
years that is 17 for 26 to 30 years and so on till 50 years of age. After that
it is reduced by five points for each five year period till it is 5 for 66 to
70 years age group.
1. This multiplier is multiplied to the
multiplicand to arrive at a figure to be awarded to the family by the tribunal and is paid by the insurance company through which the vehicle is insured. If the award is more than the insurance or there is no insurance or insufficient insurance then the balance or full award is to be paid by the owner of the vehicle.
No amount of money can bring back the dead but at least the
compensation will help the family to get back on its feet and survive.
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