Delhi has not filed a single claim on hit-and-run case portal, SC told

Delhi is among a handful of states and Union territories that have not filed a single claim for compensation for hit-and-run accident victims on a national portal launched last year to fast-track financial aid under a central government scheme.

The General Insurance Council (GIC) — an umbrella body for all insurance companies — flagged this in a report submitted to the Supreme Court, which is monitoring the implementation of road safety and victim compensation schemes.

The 2022 hit-and-run compensation scheme entitles the families of deceased victims to ₹2 lakh and seriously injured survivors to ₹50,000. It was formulated under Section 161 of the Motor Vehicles Act to provide timely aid in cases where the vehicle and driver are untraceable.

A portal was launched in July 2024 to simplify claims and track progress. However, Delhi and nine other states and UTs — Chandigarh, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Goa, Daman and Diu, Assam, Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, and Ladakh — have not uploaded any claims so far, the GIC report said. In contrast, states like Bihar and Jharkhand have uploaded 100% of their claims.

Nationwide, 921 claims had been received under the scheme till July 31, 2024, but only 389 were settled. The remaining 523 were delayed due to missing or mismatched documents, or incomplete submissions. Claimants must provide seven key documents: an FIR, a post-mortem report (for deaths), identity and bank details, hospital discharge summaries, emergency treatment records under the “golden hour” scheme, and filled-in forms.

A bench of justices Abhay S Oka and Ujjal Bhuyan has now directed chief secretaries of the defaulting states/UTs to ensure that district magistrates and claim settlement officers immediately upload the necessary documents.

To improve coordination and clear the backlog, the court asked GIC to appoint a nodal officer who will liaise directly with district officials. The portal already supports two-way communication, alerting officers to incomplete or missing files and allowing corrections to be uploaded.

GIC, represented by advocate Prerna Mehta, informed the court that a dedicated email helpline exists to assist district officers and that a GIC officer has been assigned to respond to queries.

The court’s directions came in response to a petition filed by advocate Kishan Chand Jain, who flagged the alarming rise in hit-and-run cases — 67,387 in 2022 — and the abysmally low compensation delivery rate. In an RTI response, Jain learned that between April 1 and November 11, 2024, only 5.19% of eligible victims — 2,337 out of more than 45,000 — had received any compensation.

Jain argued that most victims or their families are unaware of their rights and don’t file claims, putting the onus on the state to proactively act. He proposed integrating databases like iRAD, e-DAR, and CCTNS, which contain accident and FIR details, to streamline the process.

The court agreed to consider these suggestions in the next hearing in July. In the meantime, it directed district legal services authorities to identify victims and help them file claims under the scheme.