The record
Written from the 1 report below. Nothing here is unsourced.
- The Supreme Court has ruled that insurance companies are not liable to pay compensation for accidents if the driver's licence was invalid or not renewed at the time of the incident.
- The ruling came in a 2009 accident case where the court set aside a Punjab and Haryana High Court order that had made the insurer liable, finding its reliance on "lost" licence records flawed.
- However, the court protected the accident claimants by directing the insurer to pay the award of over ₹1.08 crore first under the 'Pay and Recover' principle, and then recover the amount from the vehicle owner and driver.
- The bench also asked the Centre and state transport departments to run nationwide road safety awareness campaigns and streamline driving licence issuance and renewal.
What to watch next
- Implementation of the nationwide road safety awareness campaigns by the Centre and state transport departments
- Reforms in driving school regulation, affordability, and regional-language accessibility for licence applications and tests
- Recovery action by the insurer against the vehicle owner and driver under the 'Pay and Recover' direction
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Named India · Claimants · Punjab and Haryana High Court · Ministry of Road Transport and Highways · N Kotiswar Singh · Om Parkash · Reliance General Insurance Co Ltd · Sanjay Karol · State transport departments · Supreme Court
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