The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Centre to consider amending the Motor Vehicles Act to enhance the compensation granted to victims of hit-and-run accidents while reminding the government that the “value of money diminishes with time”.
The Motor Vehicles Act allows the victims to be paid a compensation of ₹2 lakh in case of death and ₹50,000 for injuries caused during hit-and-run accidents.
“We direct the Central Government to consider whether the compensation amounts can be gradually enhanced annually. The Central Government shall take an appropriate decision on this issue within eight weeks from today,” a Bench headed by Justice A.S. Oka ordered.
The court noted that very few claim compensation after hit-and-run accidents. Many do not even know about the existence of such a compensation scheme under Section 161 of the Motor Vehicles Act.
There were a total of 67,387 hit-and-runs in 2022 alone across the country. Only 205 compensation claims were received under the scheme, out of which 95 claims were settled, the court pointed out from the statistics compiled by the amicus curiae, advocate Gaurav Agarwal.
The court laid down a series of directions for claiming hit-and-run accident compensation.
It said the onus was on the police officer in charge of the accident case to inform the family, in case of death, or the victim, in case of injuries, about the compensation scheme.
The district legal services authorities concerned should monitor the status of the claims, the Bench ordered.
