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MV Act Notes

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9 views

MV Act Notes

Uploaded by

Sonu Chandran
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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MOTOR VEHICLES ACT, 1988

LIABILITY UNDER MV ACT

1.NO-FAULT LIABILITY

Sections 140-144 of the Motor Vehicle Act covers the no-fault liability.
Section 140 talks about the liability to pay compensation in case of death or
permanent disability. Further, under sec.140, subsection 2, the
compensation to be paid in case of death is Rs. 50,000 and in case of
permanent disablement of any person, Rs. 25,000 is to be paid.
According to the Section 142, the permanent disablement of a person will
only be taken into account if such person has suffered permanent privation
of the sight of any eye, or hearing of ears, the privation of any part of the
body or joint, or the destruction or permanent impairment of the joints, or
permanent disfiguration of head or face.
It was provided that the claimant shall not be required to prove any fault of
the owner of the vehicle or any other person for claiming compensation as
mentioned in section 140. It means that the claimant shall not be required
to plead and establish that there was any wrongful act, negligence or
default was on the part of the owner(s) of the vehicle(s) concerned or of
any other person while claiming compensation.
It should also be kept in mind that the claims for the compensation under
section 140 shall neither be defeated by the reason of negligence or default
of the accident victims nor shall the compensation payable be reduced on
account of any such responsibility. Also, very importantly, the defence of
contributory negligence is not allowed to be pleaded when the
compensation under Section 140 is claimed.
The word ‘accident’ is not defined in the Act, instead the expression ‘arising
out of the use of a vehicle’ is used. This has greatly enlarged the scope of
protection made available to the victims and is in consonance with the
beneficial objects underlying the enactment. This has been vividly
explained in the Shivaji Dayanu v. Vatschala Uttam More case.
2.THIRD-PARTY INSURANCE

Under the provisions of the Motor Vehicle Act,1988, it is mandatory that


every vehicle in India should have a valid insurance cover to drive on the
road. By ‘every vehicle’, it means any vehicle used for social, domestic, or
for pleasure purposes and for other insurer’s business motor purpose
should be insured. In Govindan v. New India Assurance Co. Lt., the court
stated that the third party insurance is compulsory under the Motor Vehicle
Act and should not be overridden by any clause in the polic.
Third-party insurance or third party liability cover is a statutory requirement
under the Motor Vehicle Act. The first party in this is the insured and the
second party is the insurer. It is referred to as the third party liability cover
as the beneficiary of this insurance is not the insured, but the other person
apart from these two. This insurance only covers the insured’s legal
liabilities arising out of death or permanent disablement or disability of the
third party, loss or damage to the third party’s property.
Chapter XI of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988 contains the provisions of the
insurance of motor vehicles against third party risk. It is covered between
Sections 145 to 164 of the Motor Vehicle Act.

● LIABILITY OF THE INSURER

As per the Section 147(2) of the Motor Vehicle Act, policies are only bound
to cover the liability in the respect of the accident up to the limit of the
amount of liability incurred, and in case of damage to any property of the
third party. It is explained in the case, Bhoopathy v. Vijayalakshmi the
Madras High court opined that no bar is to be imposed as to when the
liability of the insurer ceases to exist.

● LIABILITY OF THE THIRD PARTY

Under the liability of a third party, the third party is liable to payback.
Consider an event, causing death or disability to a person or damage to
property of a third party falling under the provisions of chapter XI of the
Motor Vehicle Act, if the insurer has paid the third party excess amount
than the amount in relation to which liability was incurred. Here in this
scenario, the third party is liable to pay back that excess amount to the
insurer or as the case may be to the insured. Further also, if the
compensation has been already paid to legal heirs or person injured, such
compensation amount will be refunded back to the insurer.

3.LIABILITY WHEN THE VEHICLE IS NOT INSURED

If the vehicle is not insured as should have been under third party cover,
even then the claimant has a right to claim compensation. But here, in this
case, the responsibility will be fixed on the negligent driver or the owner of
the vehicle. Such a person will have to pay the compensation to the victim
out of his own pocket. This position is also maintained where a vehicle,
belonging to the Central or State Government or a corporation is exempted
from being insured under Section 146(2) and (3) of the Motor Vehicle
Act,1988. And it is to be noted that exemption from the requirement of
getting the vehicle insured does not imply exemption from liability to pay
compensation.

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