Aiming at a nationwide roll-out of cashless treatment of road accident victims, the Road Transport Ministry has now issued a draft notification on the mechanism to ensure immediate medical treatment till the condition of such injured persons stabilises.

The Centre will set up the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund, which will have a component to provide medical help to victims hit by uninsured vehicles, and where the vehicles cannot be traced.

According to a draft notification issued by the ministry, the fund to pay for the medical care of road crash victims will come from different sources such as the toll fee collected by the central government for using National Highways, through budgetary grant from Consolidated Fund of India and the fines collected from contractors, penalty imposed on highway designer and authorities who are found responsible for fault in design, construction and maintenance of roads resulting in crashes.

Different studies have shown that quick medical care can help save 50 per cent of lives in road crashes. Annually, nearly 1.5 lakh people die in road crashes and another 5 lakh are left injured.

The National Health Authority (NHA) will be the execution agency to implement the cashless scheme, which was introduced in the Motor Vehicle Amendment act of 2019. The NHA has been roped in considering its expertise in dealing with the health facilities across the country.

As per the draft rule, where any insured vehicle is involved in a crash, the insurance company will bear the medical expenses. “We needed to find a solution to help the victims in hit-and-run cases or where the vehicle is not insured. So, in those cases, the government will bear the expenses.

The approved claim amount shall be disbursed by the designated agency to the hospital. If in the case of a crash involving an uninsured vehicle, the vehicle is nabbed and negligence is established, the vehicle owner will have to pay for the expenses that the government has incurred