Motor Accident Cases: Supreme Court issues directions to make MACT procedures uniform and claimant friendly, expedite grant of compensation

The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued a slew of directions to police, Motor Accidents Claims Tribunals (MACTs) and insurance companies with a view to facilitate and make MACT procedure more smooth and claimant friendly (Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company v. Union of India)..The directions specifically signal a move towards greater use of technology by allowing police to submits reports online via email and insurers to make offers and payments online. .The directions were passed by a Bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and R Subhash Reddy on a petition by Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Company. The orders came to be passed based on a report submitted in this regard by Additional Solicitor General Jayant K Sud. .The following were the directions passed by the Bench: .A. Accident Information Report - The jurisdictional police station shall report the accident under Section 158(6) of the Act (Section 159 post 2019 amendment) (Report) to the tribunal and insurer within 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..These directions shall apply throughout India, the Court clarified. "We direct that the aforesaid directions will apply across the country so that a uniform practice is followed," the order said. .Importantly, two other suggestions were also made by Sud including creation of a central online platform for submission of accident reports, claims and responses to claims.These suggestions were recorded by the Court in its order and read as follows: .- 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 be 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.- 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..However, in respect of the above two suggestions, ASG Sud submitted that some more time may be required to work out the time period within which they can be implemented and the necessary infrastructure for the same created for which some more discussions are required.The Court allowed the same stating that it will specify the time period within which the said suggestions need to be implemented..The order was passed in a plea seeking directions in relation to the practice and procedure and manner of functioning of MACTs across the country. The petitioner had among other things sought directions to permit police authorities to submit report under Section 158 by online method. It had also sought directions to permit insurance companies to submit their response or offer through online mode. Further, it was also prayed that it be allowed to make payments online to satisfy awards passed by MACT. .The Court had issued notice in the matter on June 15, 2020.On February 24, 2021, the Court had directed that opinions of all stakeholders be considered on the issues raised in the petition.In this regard it had recorded Sud's submissions that he will make a coordinated effort and will have a virtual conference with all the stakeholders before submitting a report in to the Court..Subsequently, four virtual meetings were held with stakeholders including Amicus Curiae N Vijayraghavan and Advocate-on-Record Vipin Nair whose suggestions were also taken into account by Sud before a final report was submitted before the Court. .[Read Order]