MV Act | Supreme Court Refers Issues Regarding Cashless Treatment To Justice Sapre Committee's Examination
The Supreme Court recently referred to the Justice AS Sapre Committee (Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety) issues pertaining to cashless treatment and complete insurance coverage for road accident victims.A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan was dealing with intervention applications filed by Advocate Kishan Chand Jain in the 2012 PIL of Dr. S Rajaseekaran (Chairman and Head...
The Supreme Court recently referred to the Justice AS Sapre Committee (Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety) issues pertaining to cashless treatment and complete insurance coverage for road accident victims.
A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan was dealing with intervention applications filed by Advocate Kishan Chand Jain in the 2012 PIL of Dr. S Rajaseekaran (Chairman and Head of Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Ganga Hospital, Coimbatore) relating to road accident deaths.
One of these applications sought a direction to the Union of India to formulate a scheme under Section 162(1) of the Motor Vehicles Act, thereby requiring insurance companies to provide cashless treatment for road accident victims in hospitals, who are entitled to benefits under the Motor Vehicle Insurance Cover, and also to reimburse post-discharge medical expenses, time-to-time, within 2 weeks of submitting invoices and supporting documents for timely financial support and uninterrupted medical care for accident victims post discharge.
In this regard, the application highlighted that in January, the Court had directed the Union to make a scheme only under Section 162(2) of the MV Act for golden hours.
The application further prayed for a direction to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) to ensure that all general insurance companies comply with the schemes made under Section 162(1) of the MV Act by providing "complete coverage" for the cashless treatment of road accident victims (in hospital and post hospital). In this regard, the applicant cited electronic-Detailed Accident Reports (e-DAR) data to say that nearly 60% of road accidents involve motor vehicles having third party coverage.
Other reliefs sought were as follows:
- Direction to the Union of India to ensure that the scheme under Section 162(1) of the MV Act includes clear guidelines, funding mechanisms, and accountability measures for effective implementation;
- Direction to the Union of India that upon the commencement of the treatment scheme under Section 162(1) of the MV Act for road accident victims, a comprehensive awareness campaign should be diligently executed to ensure that eligible individuals, their family members, and associates are well-informed about the existence and benefits of the scheme, enabling them to effectively utilize this vital resource for their well-being;
- Direction to the Union of India to make pertinent information regarding medical treatment for victims of road accidents, as per the scheme under Section 162(1) of the MV Act, accessible to the public and to release monthly/bimonthly bulletins regarding district-wise and state wise number of beneficiaries of the scheme along with the amount incurred for the treatment of the road accident victims.
After hearing the submissions and going through the material, the top Court deemed it fit that the reliefs sought be looked into by Justice AS Sapre Committee. Accordingly, the bench requested the Committee to deliberate on them and give its suggestions. The Committee was asked to hear all stakeholders for a holistic view and submit a report in 6 weeks.
Case Title: S.RAJASEEKARAN Versus UNION OF INDIA AND ORS. AND ORS., W.P.(C) No. 295/2012