Lack of awareness about legal rights is leaving thousands of road crash victims in India without compensation despite claims worth over ₹96,000 crore remaining pending before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunals (MACTs), according to a report by the road safety organisation, Crashfree India.
The report cites the 2021 World Bank study titled ‘Traffic Crash Injuries and Disabilities’, which found that 70% of low-income households and 63% of high-income households were unaware of compensation provisions and schemes following road crashes.
Data presented in Parliament on March 17 this year show that 10.73 lakh motor accident claims were pending at the end of 2024-25, involving about ₹96,257 crore, an increase from ₹80,454 crore in 2022-23.
The Supreme Court observed in January 2024 that compensation claims after hit-and-run accidents were negligible due to a lack of awareness. Referring to official data, the court noted that out of 67,387 hit-and-run cases in 2022, only 205 claims were filed and 95 were settled.
The report partly attributes this to the absence of structured communication about compensation rights at the first point of contact after accidents. “Many stakeholders identified police stations, often the first institutional touchpoint, as lacking structured awareness mechanisms. Hospitals, too, do not routinely inform victims of compensation entitlements while legal aid remains largely inaccessible outside urban centres,” according to the report.
