Cashless treatment scheme of road mishap victims going nationwide?
New Delhi: Following the outcomes of the pilot programme for cashless treatment of road accident victims in Chandigarh and Assam, the ministry of road transport plans to launch the scheme nationwide from this month after it receives a budgetary grant of Rs 408 crores, official sources said.
Under the scheme, each victim would be entitled to cashless treatment up to Rs 1.5 lakh per accident for a maximum period of seven days from the accident date with claims raised by hospitals for providing treatment to be reimbursed from the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (MVAF).
The budgetary grant is being sought for road accidents caused by “uninsured motor vehicles”. The treatment cost for victims of accidents caused by vehicles having “third party insurance” will be borne by general insurance companies, sources said.
Earlier, it was proposed that the funding for the entire scheme be tapped from general insurance companies.
The programme aims to reduce road accident fatalities by ensuring prompt care for victims, especially during the critical first hour after the accident. It will help provide timely medical care to all victims, including during the golden hour, by way of cashless treatment facility to prevent denial of treatment owing to shortage of funds with the victims or their families or any other reasons. The Section 162 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, mandates insurance companies to provide for cashless treatment, including during the golden hour. It also mandates the central government to formulate a scheme for cashless treatment of victims during the golden hour. The National Health Authority launched the first pilot programme in Chandigarh in March this year and extended it to Assam in May. The NHA is responsible for implementing the programme in coordination with the local police, state health agency and other organisations.
All victims requiring trauma and polytrauma care due to road accidents caused by vehicles on any category of road shall be eligible under this scheme and be applicable to all citizens of India as well as to persons of foreign nationalities.
The MVAF will have three accounts: Account for insured vehicles funded through contributions from general insurance companies, Account for uninsured vehicles financed through the Budget; and hit and run compensation account funded out of the Solatium Scheme 1989 as well as a percentage of third party premium collected by insurance companies after considering previous year’s payouts under
hit and run cases.
