Vinod Bhat
The Government of India, in line with its commitment to reduce fatalities due to road accidents and the legal mandate under section 162 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, is launching a pilot program to provide cashless treatment to the victims of road accidents caused by the use of motor vehicles.
The pilot program, which has been developed under the aegis of the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, is being initiated in Chandigarh and is aimed at establishing an ecosystem for providing timely medical care to the victims of road accidents, including during the golden hour.
The National Health Authority (NHA) shall be the implementing agency for the pilot program, in coordination with police, hospitals, State Health Agency (SHA) etc.
The broad contours of the pilot program are as follows:
Victims entitled to cashless treatment upto a maximum of Rs. 1.5 lakhs per accident per person for a maximum period of 7 days from date of accident.
- Applicable to all road accidents caused by use of motor vehicle on any category of road.
- AB PM-JAY packages for trauma and polytrauma cases being co-opted.
- Claims raised by hospitals for providing treatment to be reimbursed from the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund.
The program will be implemented through an IT platform combining the functionalities of eDAR application of MoRTH and Transaction Management System (TMS) of NHA.
Based on the outcome of the pilot program, expansion of the cashless treatment facility to the entire country will be considered.
