Disability compensation recalculated using ₹11,000 monthly notional income, with additional compensation for lost education.

On 10 November 2017, the appellant, then about 19 years old, was struck by a car while crossing a road in Bengaluru and sustained, among other injuries, fractures to her right tibia and fibula.

The Tribunal awarded her ₹4,03,639 with interest at 6% per annum.

She appealed under Section 173(1) of the Motor Vehicles Act, seeking enhancement, principally contending that her monthly notional income should have been assessed at ₹11,000 rather than ₹6,000.

Whether the Tribunal’s assessment of the appellant’s notional monthly income, and consequent award for loss of future income due to disability, required enhancement.

Whether the award for loss of education and amenities required enhancement in light of the appellant’s injuries and resulting limitations.

The appeal was brought under Section 173(1) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, which provides for an appeal against an award of a Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal.

The Court applied the compensation-assessment principles reflected in its recalculation: loss of future income was assessed using monthly income, 12 months, the multiplier of 18, and disability of 14%; the Court also assessed compensation for loss of education having regard to the evidence of the claimant’s injuries and limitations.

The judgment cited no precedent or further statutory provision.

The Court found that the Tribunal had adopted a monthly notional income of ₹6,000, which it considered inadequate, and substituted ₹11,000 while retaining the Tribunal’s multiplier of 18 and disability assessment of 14%.

This yielded ₹3,32,640 for loss of future income, compared with the Tribunal’s ₹1,81,440.

Given the claimant’s injuries and reported difficulty standing, climbing stairs, squatting, kneeling, and using an Indian-style toilet, the Court also increased the combined award for loss of education and amenities from ₹30,000 to ₹1,00,000.

It left the awards under the other heads unchanged.

The enhanced sum carries interest at 6% per annum from the date of the claim petition until deposit.

The insurer was directed to deposit the entire compensation within six weeks, after which the Tribunal was to release it to the claimant upon proper identification.