Delay in disposal by the Motor Tribunal revealed by RTI
24 Oct, 2012
Reply to an application filed under the Right to Information (RTI) Act by the Motor Accidents Claim Tribunal (MACT) has revealed that nearly 36,064 insurance claims were made for motor vehicle accidents in Mumbai region during the past decade out of which 13,952 are still pending. A disposal of 22,112 implies a disposal of nearly 61% claims till date i.e nearly 39% claims are still pending. Out of these, 2,274 claims pertain to a period of over five years, which includes 48 cases which are pending for 10 years. Further, in spite of being cleared by the MACT, 1084 cases are pending for recovery of the amount.
These claims involed a loss of 7,423 lives apart from damage to vehicles. Activists have raised the question of delay in settlement of claims and have demanded that the amount of compensation should include some element to counterbalance the inflation element due to the delay.
Primarily, there are mainly two types of insurance in cases of motor vehicle accidents –A comprehensive insurance and a third party insurance. Importance of insuring the vehicle has often been stressed and is a legal requirement too. However, the high pendencies raise the question whether a time bound mechanism should be evolved for disposal of claims to ensure quich justice to the victims.