Under Section 164 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, a fixed no-fault compensation -- commonly cited as five lakh rupees for death and two-and-a-half lakh rupees for grievous hurt -- is payable to victims or their dependents without needing to prove who was at fault for the accident. Separately, where the vehicle or driver responsible cannot be traced (a hit-and-run case), the Compensation to Victims of Hit and Run Motor Accidents Scheme, 2022 provides for compensation from the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund -- commonly cited as two lakh rupees for death and fifty thousand rupees for grievous injury -- through a claims process independent of the Tribunal route. This platform recommends confirming current amounts, which are periodically revised, with the relevant State authority or a lawyer before relying on a specific figure.
Section 164: fixed no-fault compensation
Section 164 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (as amended in 2019) provides a fixed, no-fault
compensation payable by the insurer to the victim or their legal heirs, regardless of who was actually at
fault for the accident -- meaning the claimant does not need to prove negligence to receive this amount.
Industry and legal commentary commonly cites the current no-fault compensation as five lakh rupees in a
death case and two-and-a-half lakh rupees for grievous hurt, though this platform recommends confirming
the exact current figures against the Act and any subsequent notification, since these amounts are subject
to periodic revision. Importantly, receiving no-fault compensation under Section 164 does not prevent a
claimant from separately pursuing a full structured-formula claim before the Motor Accident Claims
Tribunal for the balance of what may be a much larger total compensation -- the no-fault amount is
typically adjusted against, not added on top of, any larger award that follows.
Hit-and-run cases: the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund scheme
Where the vehicle causing the accident cannot be identified, or the identified vehicle or driver is
uninsured and untraceable, ordinary insurer-funded compensation is often not practically available. The
Compensation to Victims of Hit and Run Motor Accidents Scheme, 2022, funded through the Motor Vehicle
Accident Fund established under the 2019 amendments, addresses this gap -- commonly cited compensation
figures are two lakh rupees to the legal representative of a person who dies in a hit-and-run accident,
and fifty thousand rupees to a person who suffers grievous hurt, a marked increase over the amounts under
the earlier 1989 Solatium Scheme. A claim is typically made to a Claims Enquiry Officer at the
subdivision or taluka level where the accident occurred, supported by the police accident report,
medical or post-mortem records, and other required documents; the enquiry officer's report then goes to
a Claims Settlement Commissioner for sanction, with the General Insurance Council commonly involved in
processing the actual payment. This platform recommends filing promptly and keeping copies of every
document submitted, since hit-and-run claims can be procedurally slower than a straightforward MACT case.
How this interacts with a full Tribunal claim and NRI dependents
No-fault and hit-and-run scheme compensation are both intended as a faster, more certain minimum
payment rather than a substitute for the potentially much larger structured-formula compensation available
through a full Motor Accident Claims Tribunal proceeding where the vehicle and driver are identified and
insured. NRI dependents of a victim should not assume that accepting the fixed no-fault or hit-and-run
amount closes off a further claim -- this platform recommends getting a lawyer's advice before signing any
settlement or discharge document, since some forms may inadvertently waive further claims. Dependents
based abroad can generally still pursue these claims through an Indian lawyer and a Power of Attorney,
though document collection (police reports, medical records, death certificates) is often easier to
coordinate through a family member or representative physically present in India.
Common mistakes people make with no-fault and hit-and-run claims:
- Assuming the fixed no-fault or hit-and-run amount is the maximum available -- a full Tribunal
claim can often yield significantly more where the vehicle and driver are identified.
- Signing a settlement or discharge form without legal advice, which can sometimes waive further
claims unintentionally.
- Not filing a hit-and-run claim at all because the responsible vehicle was never traced -- the
2022 scheme exists specifically for this situation.
