SC says pillion rider can’t claim compensation

NEW DELHI: The next time you ride pillion, make sure to wear a helmet. Because in the event of an accident, you won’t be entitled to compensation.

In a significant ruling, the supreme court has said that pillion riders dying or getting hurt in road mishaps can’t claim third-party compensation.

If a vehicle only has a third-party insurance cover, neither the owner, nor the passengers, unless the contract is specific to include others too, can claim compensation, a bench of justices SB Sinha and LS Panta ruled, quashing the Rs1.18 lakh compensation awarded by the Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal (Mact) in Kerala to the next of a woman pillion rider who fell to death from a scooter.

Thankamani was pillion-riding a scooter on October 20, 1993, when she fell and died. Her family filed a claim for insurance compensation. But Oriental Insurance Company contented that the policy did not cover the risk of injury or death for Thankamani as she was a gratuitous passenger. Hence, it was not liable to pay any compensation for her death.

However, the Mact rejected the claim and awarded Rs1.18 lakh. The Kerala high court later upheld the Mact decision following which the insurer filed an appeal in the apex court.

Upholding the insurance company’s plea, the court said in terms of section 147 of the Motor Vehicles Act, only in regard to reimbursement of the claim to a third party, a contract of insurance must be taken by the owners of the vehicle.

“The liability of the insurer to reimburse the owner in respect of a claim made by the third party, thus, is statutory whereas other claims are not,” the apex court observed.
When, however, an owner of a vehicle intends to cover himself from other risks, it is permissible to enter into a contract of insurance in which event the insurer would be bound to reimburse the owner of the vehicle strictly in terms thereof, the bench said.