Top court calls for direct transfer of aid to motor accident victims

The Supreme Court has directed that compensation awarded in motor accident claims should be directly transferred to the bank accounts of victims rather than being deposited with the Motor Accident Claims Tribunals first "so that insurance companies and the claimants are saved from hassles of the court processes".

- Utkarsh Anand

NEW DELHI:

The ruling, aimed at streamlining the disbursement process and reducing delays, was issued by a bench comprising Justices JK Maheshwari and Rajesh Bindal on Tuesday.

"Withdrawal of the amount deposited in the court by any litigant certainly needs time and also expenses," the bench observed, emphasising the need to simplify the procedure. "Instead of following that process, a direction can always be issued to transfer the amount into the bank account(s) of the claimant(s) with intimation to the tribunal," the court stated in its judgment.

By eliminating the need for claimants to navigate bureaucratic and procedural hurdles for withdrawals, the judgment aims to ensure quicker access to compensation. With over a million motor accident cases pending across the country, this move is expected to accelerate the resolution of claims and bring relief to countless accident victims and their families.