Case Title: Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company Private Ltd. v. Union of India
The Supreme Court has given numerous directions regarding the procedure for paying out compensation as well as advancing the case before the MACTs nationwide.
The jurisdictional police station is required to provide an Accident Information Report regarding the accident to the tribunal and insurance within the first 48 hours through email or a special website, in accordance with these instructions. Additionally, they must deliver a thorough accident report to them within three months.
The bench, which was made up of Justices R. Subhash Reddy and Sanjay Kishan Kaul, issued the following directives:
A. Accident Information Report: The jurisdictional police station shall report the accident under Section 158(6) of the Motor Vehicles Act (Section 159 post-2019 amendment) (hereinafter "the report") to the tribunal and insurer within the first 48 hours either over email or a dedicated website.
B. Detailed Accident Report: Police shall collect the documents relevant to the accident and for computation of compensation and shall verify the information and documents. These documents shall form part of the Report. It shall email the Report to the tribunal and the insurer within three months. Similarly, the claimants may also be permitted to email the application for compensation with supporting documents, under Section 166 to the tribunal and the insurer within the same time.
C. The tribunal shall issue summons along with the Report or the application for compensation, as the case may be, to the insurer by email.
D. The insurer shall email their offer for settlement/response to the Report or the application for claim to the tribunal along with proof of service on the claimants.
E. After passing the award, the tribunal shall email an authenticated copy of the award to the insurer.
F. The insurer shall satisfy the award by depositing the awarded amount into a bank account maintained by the tribunal by RTGS or NEFT. For this purpose, the tribunal shall maintain a bank account and record the relevant account details along with the directions for payment to the insurer in the award itself.
G. Each tribunal shall create an email ID peculiar to its jurisdiction for receiving the emails from the police and the insurer as mentioned above. Similarly, all insurer throughout India shall also create an email ID peculiar to the jurisdiction of each claim tribunal. These email IDs would be prominently displayed at tribunal, the police stations and the office of the insurers for the benefit of the claimants. Similarly, these email Ids shall also be prominently displayed on the website maintained by the tribunal and the insurer.
H. Insurers shall appoint nodal officers for each tribunal and provide their contact details, phone and mobile phone numbers, and email address to Director Generals of State Police and the tribunals.
According to the court, these guidelines are followed nationally to ensure a standardized system. Additionally, it took note of the following points made in the report provided by ASG Jayant K. Sud:
I. Tamil Nadu and NCT of Delhi have already progressed from having email accounts for submission of accident reports by the police to the tribunal and the insurer, to operating an online platform/website for submission of accident report under Section 159. These online platform/websites shall suitably be modified for submission of claimants' application for compensation under Section 166 of the Act as well insurers' response to the accident report or the claim petition as the case may be.
J. Each State having an independent online platform for submission of accident reports, claims and responses to claims, will hamper efficient adjudication of claims, especially where the victim of the accident is not a resident of State where accident has occurred. Therefore, Central Government shall develop an online platform accessible to the tribunals, police authorities and insurers throughout India.