Road accident: claiming compensation (MACT)

What has probably happened

Someone in your family has been hurt, or has died, in an accident involving a car, a motorcycle, a bus, a truck or another motor vehicle. You are at a hospital, or at home trying to make sense of it, and people are already telling you different things about police cases, insurance and "settling".

The law gives the injured person, or the family of the person who died, a right to compensation: money for the injury or the loss. Under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, it is decided by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (MACT), a special tribunal set up in each area to hear these claims. Most claims are paid by the insurer, the insurance company that covered the vehicle.

This guide is about the first days and weeks: what to do at the hospital and the police station, which papers to collect now, and which route to compensation fits. The claim itself, and how the tribunal hears it, is explained in MACT claim petition.

What to do, step by step

The first hours — treatment comes first. The driver of the vehicle must take reasonable steps to get the injured person to a doctor or hospital. Every registered doctor, or the doctor on duty at the hospital, must attend to the injured person immediately, without waiting for any procedural formalities (Section 134). A hospital cannot hold back treatment because there is no police case yet. The Act also requires insurers to provide for the treatment of road accident victims, including in the golden hour — the first hour after a serious injury, when treatment matters most — under a Central Government scheme for cashless treatment (Section 162). Ask the hospital whether it treats accident victims under that scheme.

Day 0 to day 1 — the police record. If no police officer came to the spot, the driver must report the accident at the nearest police station within 24 hours (Section 134). Do not rely on the driver. Go to the police station yourself, or send a family member, and make sure the accident is recorded as a First Information Report (FIR) — the police's first written record of an offence. You can give the information orally or electronically, and you are entitled to a copy of the FIR free of cost (Section 173, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita). Note the FIR number and the police station.

If the police refuse to record it, send the facts in writing, by post, to the Superintendent of Police of the district (Section 173(4)). eMunshi's police complaint can set this out for you.

The first week — collect the papers. Start a folder and keep the originals in it.

• Every hospital paper: the admission record, treatment notes, X-rays and scans, prescriptions, the discharge summary, and the medico-legal record — the hospital's note of an injury that involves a police case.
• Every bill and receipt: hospital, medicines, tests, ambulance, travel.
• Photographs of the spot, the vehicles and the injuries, if anyone took them.
• The registration number of the vehicle, and the names and phone numbers of anyone who saw the accident.
• In a death: the post-mortem report and the death certificate.

The first weeks — find the vehicle and its insurer. At the police station, the driver or owner must show the vehicle's insurance certificate, registration and driving licence (Section 158). If you do not have these details, ask the police station or the transport office (RTO). If you are entitled to claim, they must give you the vehicle's particulars and the name and address of the person using it, on payment of the prescribed fee (Section 160).

Before you accept anything — choose the route. There is more than one way to compensation, and some of them close the others.

• The full claim. A claim petition before the tribunal under Section 166. The tribunal decides what compensation is just after hearing all sides (Section 168). This is the main route, and it must be made within six months of the accident.
• The fixed sum. The owner or insurer must pay a fixed sum of five lakh rupees for a death or two and a half lakh rupees for grievous hurt (serious injury as the criminal law defines it), without your having to prove anyone was at fault (Section 164). But if you accept this sum through the insurer's settlement procedure, your claim petition lapses — it ends (Section 166).
• The insurer's offer. When the insurer learns of the accident, it must name an officer to settle the claim, who can make you an offer before the tribunal (Section 149). If you accept, the claim is treated as settled, and the insurer must pay within 30 days.
• Hit-and-run. If the vehicle was never found, a fixed sum is paid under a Central Government scheme (Section 161).
• An accident at work. If the person was at work, you can claim under the Motor Vehicles Act or the employees' compensation law, but not both (Section 167).

Within three months — the police report. The police must prepare an accident information report and send it to the tribunal within three months (Section 159). The tribunal treats it as a claim for compensation (Section 166(4)). Do not assume it is complete or correct; have an advocate check it.

Within six months — the claim petition. The claim must be made within six months of the accident. The tribunal can accept it up to twelve months after that, but only if you show a sufficient cause — a good reason — for the delay (Section 166(3)). Treat six months as the real limit, and instruct an advocate well before it.

Timeline and costs

When	What	Who pays
The first hours	Treatment	The hospital must treat first; ask about the cashless scheme
Day 0 to day 1	FIR recorded; free copy to you	—
The first weeks	Papers collected; vehicle and insurer identified	Any fee the police or RTO charges for vehicle particulars
Within three months	Police send the accident information report to the tribunal	—
Within six months	Claim petition before the tribunal	Court fee set by your state, and the advocate's fee, which they quote first

Documents to keep handy

• The FIR, and later the police's accident information report and site plan.
• All hospital records, bills and receipts, and any disability certificate.
• In a death: the post-mortem report, the death certificate, and proof of who the family members are.
• Proof of age of the injured or deceased person.
• Proof of income: salary slips, an employer's certificate, income tax returns or business records.
• The vehicle's registration number and, if you have them, its insurance and the driver's details.
• Identity and address proof, and bank details, of each family member who will claim.

Mistakes that sink people

• Signing papers at the hospital or police station that you have not read, especially anything that says the matter is "settled" or "compromised".
• Accepting a fixed sum or an offer in a hurry. Accepting the Section 164 sum through the insurer ends the claim petition.
• Throwing away bills. Costs that cannot be shown are hard to recover.
• Not checking the FIR. A wrong vehicle number or a missing name in the FIR causes trouble later.
• Waiting for the police or the insurer to do it all. The six months run whether or not they act.

When you need an advocate

The claim petition, the evidence and the hearings are tribunal work. An independent advocate from our panel can take it on: they check the police papers, advise you on any offer before you answer, file the claim within the time limit, and represent you at the hearings. They review your papers and quote their fee before you pay anything. eMunshi is a technology platform, not a law firm. If you first want to understand your options, a 30-minute call starts at ₹999.