Tezzbuzz Desk- The Supreme Court has given important instructions to the Centre, States and Union Territories to stop fake insurance claims related to road accidents. The court has asked to interconnect digital platforms like eDAR, Vahan, Sarathi and IIB and upload accident related data on time.
Taking seriously the cases of fake insurance claims in the name of road accidents, the Supreme Court has directed to strengthen the digital system. The court has ordered the central government, all states and union territories to interconnect major digital portals related to road accidents and insurance within four weeks. The initiative aims to share accident-related information, vehicle records, insurance details and history of previous claims with each other, so that suspicious claims can be identified.
As per the direction of the Supreme Court, platforms like Electronic Detailed Accident Report (eDAR), Vahan (VAHAN), Sarathi (SARATHI) and Insurance Information Bureau (IIB) are to be integrated. This will make it easier to access relevant information after an accident and can help insurance companies investigate claims. The court also stressed on including hit-and-run cases and PM-RAHAT scheme in this system, so that the information related to the accident reaches the concerned insurance companies in time. A bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and Prasanna B Varale gave four weeks time to the authorities to comply with the instructions related to integration of digital portals. The court believes that with better data sharing arrangements between different departments and institutions, fake claims can be investigated more effectively.
During the hearing, the Supreme Court also expressed concern over the status of uploading data on the EDAR portal. The court said that this portal run by the National Informatics Center (NIC) has been established, but only a few states have started uploading data on it. In such a situation, instructions have been given to all the states to make the related information available on the portal without unnecessary delay. The matter came up during the hearing of a dispute related to motor accident compensation. During the hearing, it was alleged that the same insured vehicle was involved in multiple accident cases. The matter then escalated into a comprehensive investigation into alleged fraudulent insurance claims. The court stressed the need for scrutiny of records and better coordination between various agencies in such cases.
The Supreme Court also expressed displeasure over the repeated non-compliance of prior instructions by some insurance companies to appear in the court. The court issued contempt notices to the managing directors or chief executive officers of insurance companies whose representatives had not appeared in the court despite prescribed directions. The concerned officers were directed to appear in person and explain the reasons for non-compliance.
Integration of digital portals can make it easier to collate information available in road accident cases. This is expected to help in identifying multiple suspicious claims related to the same vehicle and checking insurance records. However, the effectiveness of this arrangement will depend on timely provision of data by the states and better coordination among the concerned agencies.