Getting compensation for accidents involving State transport corporation buses is not easy. For, unlike others, State transport corporation vehicles are exempt from compulsory motor insurance covers, under Sec 146(3) of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988. Under the MVA, the corporations must have a fund for paying compensation to accident victims. According to sources, the coffers are empty. The result: State transport corporations are sitting on accident claims of around Rs 48 crore.
In August last year, advocate N Vijayaraghavan made a presentation to the Transport Secretary, harping on the need for the State transport corporation buses to take third party insurance cover.
“The outstanding amount that the State transport corporations need to pay victims clearly indicates that there is no fund to meet the obligations. Given the circumstances, the obvious solution is for the government to consider withdrawing the exemption granted to transport undertakings. Once the exemption is withdrawn, buses belonging to transport undertakings will come within the ambit of Section 146(1) requiring compulsory motor insurance,” says Vijayaraghavan.
“Insurers who, so far, have been refusing cover can then no longer do so. They would be legally obliged to offer policies just as they do to any other owner of a motor vehicle,” he adds.
Reckless driving
During the night of March 20, 2009, Shanmugan (52) was riding home on his bike along Race Course Road at around 10 pm after closing a battery shop, which he had been running in Ashok Nagar for the past 20 years. An MTC bus ripped past his left side. He says, “I was thrown off my bike and the entire left side of the body was damaged, right from my face to my feet. I lay unconscious for three hours.”
“Though I spent six months in hospital, I cannot stand for more than five minutes now without severe pain on the left side of my body. I had to close down my business. I used to make Rs 15,000 a month. I now work as a watchman and earn hardly Rs 4,000 a month.”
Shanmugan has a daughter and son and is struggling to make ends meet. He is still waiting for the MTC to pay compensation after the accident. He has claimed Rs 7 lakh.
“The wait seems endless. With every passing day, we are pushed deeper into poverty even as my body is growing weaker,” he says.
Jaya (44) was waiting near a zebra crossing in Nandanam, in December 14, 2009. An MTC bus zoomed past, swinging her in the air and dropping her 12 feet away. Jaya says, “It is a miracle that I survived. After the impact, I didn’t know what happened. My head and shoulder were affected. I spent six months in Apollo hospital. My husband sold property and mortgaged all our jewelry to bring me back to life.”
“We belong to the salaried class and have two young daughters. Even now my health is not normal. I feel nauseous on and off, I cannot stand for a long time.”
“My family is supportive and so are my employers and colleagues at work. We don’t have much money to go to a doctor again, so I suffer my pain alone,” says the mother of two.
Responding to a query of compensation, she says, “I don’t think the State transport corporations even think about what happens to people like us. They simply can’t be bothered.”
According to advocate K Ravikumar, “The attitude of the State transport corporations in dealing with compensation claims is pathetic. Even after a court judgment, they dither.”
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