LIABILITY
WITHOUT FAULT IN CERTAIN CASES:-
Where the death of a person
or permanent disablement of any person has resulted from an accident arising
out of the use of a motor vehicle or motor vehicles, the owner of the vehicle
shall, or, as the case may be, the owners of the vehicles shall, jointly or
severally, be liable to pay the compensation in respect of such death or
disablement in accordance with the provisions of this section.
The amount of the
compensation which shall be payable under sub section (1) in respect of the
death of any person shall be a fixed sum of fifty thousand rupees and the
amount of the compensation payable under that sub section in respect of the
permanent disablement of any person shall be a fixed sum of twenty five
thousand rupees.
In any claim for
compensation under sub section (1), the claimant shall not be required to plead
and establish that the death or permanent disablement in respect of which the
claim has been made was due to any wrongful act, neglect or default of the
owner or owners of the vehicle or vehicles concerned or of any other person.
A claim for the
compensation under sub section (1) shall not be defeated by reason of any
wrongful act, neglect or default of the person in respect of whose death or
permanent disablement the claim has been made nor shall the quantum of compensation
recoverable in respect of such death or permanent disablement be reduced on the
basis of the share of such person in the responsibility for such death or
permanent disablement.
Notwithstanding
anything contained in sub section (2) regarding the death or the bodily injury
to any person, for which the owner of the vehicle is liable to give the
compensation for relief, he is also liable to pay the compensation under any
other law for the time being in force:
Provided that the
amount of such compensation to be given under any other law shall be reduced
from the amount of compensation payable under this section or under the section
163 A.
The right to claim the
compensation under the section 140 in respect of death or permanent disablement
of any person shall be in addition to any other right except the right to claim
under the scheme referred to in section 163 A, such other right hereafter in
this section referred to as the right on the principle of fault to claim
compensation in respect thereof under any other provisions of this act or of
any other law for the time being in force.
A claim for
compensation under the section 140 in respect of death or permanent disablement
of any person shall be disposed of as expeditiously as possible and where the
compensation is claimed in respect of such death or permanent disablement under
section 140 and also in pursuance of any right on the principle of fault, the
claim for compensation under the section 140 shall be disposed of as aforesaid
in the first place.
Notwithstanding
anything contained in sub section (1), where in respect of the death or
permanent disablement of any person, the person liable to pay the compensation
under the section 140 is also liable to pay compensation in accordance with the
right on the principle of fault, the person so liable shall pay the first
mentioned compensation and-
a. If the amount of the first mentioned compensation is less than the
amount of the second mentioned compensation, he shall be liable to pay (in
addition to the first mentioned compensation) only so much of the second
mentioned compensation as is equal to the amount by which it exceeds the first
mentioned compensation;
b. If the amount of the first mentioned compensation is equal to or
more than the amount of the second mentioned compensation, he shall not be
liable to pay the second mentioned compensation.
For the purposes of
this Chapter, permanent disablement of a person shall be deemed to have
resulted from an accident of the nature referred to in sub section (1) of
section 140 if such person has suffered by reason of the accident, any injury
or injuries involving:-
a. The permanent privation of the sight of either eye or the hearing
of either ear, or privation of any member or joint; or
b. The destruction or permanent impairing of the powers of any member
or joint; or
c. The permanent disfigurement of the
head or the face.
The provisions of this
Chapter shall also apply in relation to any claim for compensation in respect
of the death or permanent disablement of any person under the Workmen’s
Compensation Act, 1923 (8 of 1923) resulting from an accident of the nature
referred to in sub section (1) of section 140 and for this purpose, the said
provisions shall, with necessary modifications, be deemed to form the part of
that Act.
The provisions of this
Chapter shall have effect notwithstanding anything contained in any other
provision of this Act or of any other law for the time being in force.
INSURANCE OF
MOTOR VEHICLES AGAINST THIRD PARTIES RISKS
In this Chapter:-
a. The ‘authorised insurer’ means an insurer for the time being
carrying on general insurance business in India under the General Insurance
Business (Nationalisation) Act, 1972, (57 of 1972), and any Govt. insurance
fund authorised to do general insurance business under that Act;
b. The ‘certificate of insurance’ means a certificate issued by an
authorised insurer in pursuance of the sub section (3) of section 147 and
includes a cover note complying with such requirements as may be prescribed,
and where more than one certificate has been issued in connection with a
policy, or where a copy of a certificate has been issued, all those
certificates or that copy, as the case may be;
c. The ‘liability’, wherever used in relation
to the death of or the bodily injury to any person, includes the liability in
respect thereof under section 140;
d. The ‘policy of insurance’ includes the ‘certificate of insurance’;
e. The ‘property’ includes the goods carried in the motor vehicle,
roads, bridges, culverts, causeways, trees, posts and mile stones;
f. The ‘reciprocating
country’ means any such country as may on the basis of reciprocity be notified
by the Central Govt in the Official Gazette to be a reciprocating country
for the purpose of this Chapter;
g. The ‘third party’ includes the Govt.
No person shall use,
except as a passenger, or cause or allow any other person to use a motor
vehicle in a public place, unless there is in force in relation to the use of
the vehicle by that person or that other person, as the case may be, a policy
of the insurance complying with the requirements of this Chapter:
Provided that in the
case of a vehicle carrying, or meant to carry, dangerous or hazardous goods,
there shall also be a policy of insurance under the Public Liability Insurance
Act, 1991 (6 of 1991).
Explanation:- a
person driving a motor vehicle merely as a paid employee, while there is in
force in relation to the use of the vehicle no such policy as is required by
this sub section, shall not be deemed to act in contravention of the sub
section unless he knows or has reason to believe that there is no such policy
in force.
Sub section (1) shall
not apply to any vehicle owned by the Central Govt or a State govt, and used
for the Govt purposes unconnected with any commercial enterprise.
The appropriate govt
may, by order, exempt from the operation of sub section (1) any vehicle owned
by any of the following authorities, namely:-
a. The Central govt or a State govt, if the vehicle is used for the
govt purposes connected with any commercial enterprise;
b. Any local authority;
c. Any State transport undertaking:
Provided that no such
order shall be made in relation to any such authority unless a fund has been
established and is maintained by that authority in accordance with the rules
made in that behalf under this Act for meeting any liability arising out of the
use of any vehicle of that authority which that authority or any person in its
employment may incur to third parties.
Explanation:- For
the purposes of this sub section, ‘appropriate govt’ means the Central govt or
the State govt, as the case may be, and-
i. In
relation to any corporation or company owned by the Central govt or any State
govt, means the Central govt or that State govt;
ii. In
relation to any corporation or company owned by the Central govt and one or
more State govts, means the Central govt;
iii. In
relation to any other State transport undertaking or any local authority, means
that govt which has control over that undertaking or authority.
(1) In
order to comply with the requirements of this chapter, a policy of insurance
must be a policy which-
a) Is
issued by a person who is an authorised insurer; and
b) Insures
the person or classes of persons specified in the policy to the extent
specified in sub section (2)-
i. Against
any liability which may be incurred by him in respect of the death of or bodily
injury to any person, including the owner of the goods or his authorised
representative carried in the vehicle or damage to any property of a third
party caused by or arising out of the use of the vehicle in a public place.
ii.
Against the death of or bodily
injury to any passenger of a public service vehicle caused by or arising out of
the use of the vehicle in a public place:
Provided that a policy
shall not be required-
i. To
cover the liability in respect of the death, arising out of and in the course
of his employment, of the employee of a person insured by the policy or in
respect of the bodily injury sustained by such an employee arising out of and
in the course of his employment other than a liability arising under the
Workmen’s Compensation Act, 1923 (8 of 1923), in respect of the death of, or
bodily injury to, any such employee-
a) Engaged
in driving the vehicle, or
b) If
it is a public service vehicle engaged as a conductor of the vehicle or in
examining the tickets on the vehicle, or
c) If
it is a goods carriage, being carried in the vehicle, or
ii. To
cover any contractual liability.
Explanation: - For
the removal of doubts, it is hereby declared that the death of or bodily injury
to any person or damage to any property of a third party shall be deemed to
have been caused by or to have arisen out of, the use of a vehicle in a public
place notwithstanding that the person who is dead or injured or the property
which is damaged was not in public place at the time of accident, if the act or
omission which led to the accident occurred in a public place.
(2) Subject
to the proviso to sub section (1), a policy of insurance referred to in sub
section (1), shall cover any liability incurred in respect of any accident, up
to the following limits, namely: -
a. Save
as provided in clause (b), the amount of liability incurred;
b. In
respect of damage to any property of a third party, a limit of rupees six
thousand:
Provided that any
policy of insurance issued with any limited liability and in force, immediately
before the commencement of this Act, shall continue to be effective for a
period of four months after such commencement or till the date of expiry of
such policy whichever is earlier.
(3) A
policy shall be of no effect for the purposes of this Chapter unless and until
this is issued by the insurer in favour of the person by whom the policy is
effected a certificate of insurance in the prescribed form and containing the
prescribed particulars of any condition subject to which the policy is issued
and of any other prescribed matters; and different forms, particulars and
matters may be prescribed in different cases.
(4) Where
a cover note issued by the insurer under the provisions of this Chapter or the
rules made there under is not followed by a policy of insurance within the
prescribed time, the insurer shall, within seven days of the expiry of the
period of the validity of the cover note, notify the fact to the registering
authority in whose records the vehicle to which the cover note relates has been
registered or to such other authority as the State govt may prescribe.
No comments:
Post a Comment