If the GI Council and other insurance companies fail to develop the app within two months, the Central government will be called upon to do so,said the SC
New Delhi:
In a significant development, the Supreme Court has issued a slew of orders in bid to completely overhaul the functioning of the system affecting the all the stakeholders of the MACT(Motor Accident Claims Tribunal) cases.
Among other orders, the Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MM Sundresh on Tuesday directed insurance companies to develop a common mobile app within two months, to expedite the process of payment of compensation in motor accident cases. The directions came on an earlier petition by Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company.
The Court also declined to accept the request by the General Insurance Council, the official representative body of the domestic general insurers, seeking certain specific directions from the Court so that it can develop the app.
In this regard, the Court stated that its earlier directions in March and August this year are comprehensive enough while adding that if the GI Council and other insurance companies fail to develop the app within two months, the Central government will be called upon to do so.
Earlier on March 16, the Court had passed a slew of other directions in the same case with a view to facilitate and make procedures in Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) cases more smooth and claimant friendly.
The Court expressed its displeasure over the fact that only 13 States and Union Territories had circulated directions issued on March 16, 2021 to the local police stations and MACTs. The Registrar Generals of High Courts of the remaining States and Union Territories were directed to ensure compliance and to inform the additional solicitor general(ASG) of the same. The registrar generals were asked to direct the respective director general of police to appoint a nodal officer to submit a status report when called for.
The top court also issued following directions:
It directed that the format of payment remittance issued by Madras High Court in Divisional Manager v Rajesh Court be implemented throughout the country. The Court also didn’t accept Amicus Curiae N Vijayraghavan’s suggestion to move the amounts deposited in the MACT from savings to current accounts.
it ordered that whenever there is disbursement of compensation to the beneficiaries, any such interest that is accrued out of the deposit should be paid to the beneficiaries along with the principal amount. Further, the insurance companies were directed to inform the MACT of the payment of the dues along with issuing a copy to the beneficiary. The bench opined that this will end the liability on such insurance companies/depositers.
(iv) The bench also emphasised that the guidelines laid down in Raj Kumar v Ajay Kumar and Anr for the issuance of disability certificate to the victims must be strictly adhered to by the MACT with respect to income lost due to injury/disablement. To bring uniformity across the country, the District Medical Board was instructed to follow the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment about issuance of disability certificate. This certificate can be used as evidence unless found suspicious.
(v) Further, the Legal Services Authority or the relevant agency/ mediation groups were instructed to assist the claimant-beneficiary in obtaining a Permanent Account Number (PAN) card. The availability of a PAN card avoids 20 percent of tax deduction at the source. The Finance Ministry was asked to pay due attention to the ASG Jayant K Sud’s communication in this regard.
(vi) In respect of direction passed earlier for the ASG to look into the feasibility of withdrawing exemptions given to the vehicles of the state corporations for insurance, or in the alternative to create a mechanism to ensure that a sufficient fund pool was available with these corporations for meeting their liabilities towards the claimants, the ASG submitted that on examination, it was found that it was not feasible to withdraw the exemptions.
“If that be the position, then the alternative must come into force to create a mechanism to ensure that a sufficient fund pool is available with these Corporations,” the Court directed.
In respect of direction for settlement of motor accident claims through online mediation, the Court observed that it has been proposed by ASG to consider direction in this matter may be deferred for the time being as the Central Mediation Act is in public domain which includes the process of online mediation and objections/suggestions are invited for the same.
In fact, the illustration available from the State of Maharashtra itself shows that Motor Vehicles Act cases constitute 35% of the break up of pending cases in a representative civil cases in that State and that National Judicial Data Grid reveals that 25% of the motor accident claims are pending for 3 years or above before MACT observed the Court.
There is also further appeal to the High Court.
“The ADR(alternative dispute resolution) methodology has been found to be extremely effective in these cases.Some suggested directions have been set out but since deferment is sought in this behalf we will consider the same on the next date,’’ said the SC.
The matter will be heard by the SC Bench again on January 27, 2022.