Madras High Court makes five-year bumper to bumper insurance mandatory for new vehicles

The Madras High Court has made bumper to bumper insurance mandatory for all new vehicles for a period of five years to ensure safety of the passengers, driver, and owner (The New India Assurance Co. Ltd. vs. K. Parvathi)..Justice S Vaidyanathan passed this order while setting aside the award by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (MACT) that directed a sum of ₹14,65,800 be paid by the insurance company to the claimants who were relatives of the deceased, as compensation for his death in an accident.“When a buyer is ready to pay a huge amount for purchase of a vehicle, it is really shocking as to why the buyer is not interested in spending a paltry sum to take a policy so as to safeguard himself/herself and others," the Court said..The MACT had awarded the hefty compensation based on the ground that the entire policy conditions were not produced by the insurance company despite the fact that the policy taken was ‘Act only’ and that as per the policy, the driver/owner would only be entitled to a sum of ₹1,00,000.It was also submitted by the appellant that the deceased was not the driver of the vehicle at the time of accident..However, the MACT found that unless the entire policy conditions were produced, it would be difficult to analyse whether the insurance company was liable to pay the compensation..The High Court did not find merit in MACT's decision and observed that since no premium was paid with regard to the driver and the other passengers who were travelling in the vehicle, the order completely erred in granting compensation only on the ground that the conditions of the policy have not been produced..The Court further held that the tribunal should have rejected the claim petition for non-filing of the details of the policy by the claimants, as it was claimants, who had approached the tribunal, with unclean hands, by taking a different stand..The High Court although did clarify that the order would not restrain the claimants from seeking compensation from the owner of the car.Keeping in mind the safety a vehicle’s passengers, Justice Vaidyanathan made bumper to bumper coverage mandatory.It was also directed that the order be circulated to all insurance companies so as to ensure that the directions in the order are followed scrupulously in letter and spirit without any deviation..That matter has been listed for a report on compliance on September 30..Advocate M Krishnamoorthy appeared for the appellants while advocate N Manokaran appeared for the respondents .