SC panel favours cap of ₹1.5L for treatment of road accident victims

NEw new delhi: A sublime Court-constituted citizens committee on route refuge has favoured continuation of the monetary cap of ₹1.5 lakh for cashless treatment of road accident victims during the crucial first hour following the incident in its latest report submitted in the top court on April 6.The cashless treatment scheme during the ‘Golden Hour’ was notified by the Centre in February, this year fixing an amount of ₹1.5 lakh for treatment up to seven days. In November 2025, the top court asked the three-member committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge justice (retd) Abhay Manohar Sapre, to examine whether the cap should be altogether removed or further increased.The committee said that the scheme is still at a nascent stage and any revision of the cap must await feedback from states on the implementation of the scheme over the next six months to one year.Taking up the report on Thursday, a bench of justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan said, “The committee has informed that it will constantly monitor and periodically call for reports from the ministry of road, transport and highways (MoRTH). Once some concrete material comes on record as regards the functioning of the scheme, the cap issue will also be determined.”Posting the matter to May 12, the court asked the concerned stakeholders - General Insurance Council (GIC) along with the petitioner Kishan Chand Jain and senior advocate Gaurav Agarwal assisting the court as amicus curiae to put forth their suggestions before the justice Sapre committee.The report of the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety said, “The committee is of the opinion as a measure of abundant caution and to ensure that the scheme covers as many individuals as possible, the financial limit be presently capped at Rs.1.5 lakh.”The committee came to the conclusion after obtaining views of the MoRTH which was not in favour of increasing the cap. The ministry said that the scheme is aimed to reduce fatalities in road accidents and to provide the initial succor to the victims during the ‘golden hour’, which is the crucial hour when the victim has to be stabilised with immediate medical care.The bench did raise doubts on whether such a cap may be restrictive in providing effective medical help to the victims. It said, “While the committee is of the view that monitoring of cases is required, what if a patient is admitted in ICU and the ₹1.58 lakh limit gets exhausted within a day.”GIC represented by senior advocate Neeraj Kishan Kaul said, “The cashless scheme covers even the uninsured. Making it limitless will render the scheme unviable and open to misuse. According to us, ₹1.5 lakh is more than enough.”The petitioner Jain, whose application was considered by the committee, stated that any victim of road accident, who is critical for a period of more than 7 days and has exceeded hospitalisation costs of Rs.1.5 Lakh must not be faced with a situation where the scheme does not cover hospitalisation cost.He said that section 162 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 which provides for this scheme should have a capless limit on medical expenses.The MoRTH in its interaction with the committee, also comprising former bureaucrat Sanjay Bandopadhyay and road engineering scientist Nishi Mittal, talked about a pilot study conducted in six states/UTs namely Chandigarh, Assam, Punjab, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Puducherry which found that 98% victims incurred treatment costs of ₹60,000 or less. It observed that only 1.36%, a negligible proportion, approach the upper cost spectrum.The committee said, “The applicant (Jain) raises an important issue and one that will require constant monitoring to ensure that road accident victims are not denied medical care. At the same tim, it added, “The resources (of the state) have to be best utilized for the larger public good and there is a need to safeguard against non-road accident cases and/or fraudulent claims.”Going forward, the panel said that a balance needs to be struck by calling for periodical reports from all states through MoRTH, to see that “no injustice is done to any innocent victim.” This data would then determine in what manner, the time period of treatment be extended, the linkages required to access medical aid to road accident victims in government hospitals be provided, and misuse of the scheme for treatment not related to road accidents may be prevented, the report added.