Mumbai: Driver meets accident, company to pay penalty

A city labour court has penalised a transport company for not paying compensation to a driver employed with them within a month of him meeting with an accident in 2017. 

Labour court Judge KR Aadke ordered the transportation company Swift Roadways and the insurance company ICICI Lombard to jointly pay compensation of over Rs 5,37,000 to the applicant Rakesh Gond who met with an accident on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway and suffered a leg injury. The court held that he had suffered 50% disability and lost half his earning capacity. He earned Rs 8,000 monthly before the accident. They are to pay the amount at an interest of 12% from the date of the accident. 

Judge Aadke further noted that the transportation company had not paid any compensation to the applicant till date. That, as per a provision of The Workmen’s Compensation Act, the employer is duty bound to clear the payment within a month from the date the accident. Stating that employer has not given any reason for not paying up, it ordered that company pay up 50% over total compensation awarded to Gond as penalty. 

The insurance company had denied the driver’s claim for compensation by refuting the employee-employer relationship between the transport company and him. They had also disputed his age and salary at the time of the accident.

The labour court relied on documents which showed that the vehicle involved in the accident was insured in the name of Swift Roadways. It also noted that in the police complaint, an employee of the transport company has mentioned that Gond was driving the said tempo for the past seven years and has suffered an injury to his right leg due to the accident. It said that thus, the employer-employee relationship is established.