Future prospects must be added when calculating compensation for personal injury claims.

Gangamma claimed that on 17 December 2009, a motorcycle struck her while she was walking beside a road, causing a closed comminuted fracture of her left femur.

She sought compensation under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal found the rider negligent and awarded her ₹4,46,200.

In her appeal under Section 173(1), she sought enhancement, challenging, among other matters, the assessment of disability and awards for amenities, treatment-period income loss, and future medical expenses.

The High Court noted that she was 43 years old, worked as a cook earning ₹4,500 per month, and that the doctor had assessed 70% limb disability.

Whether Gangamma was entitled to enhancement of the compensation awarded by the Tribunal.

Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 provides for claims for compensation arising from motor-vehicle accidents, while Section 173(1) provides for an appeal against an award of the Claims Tribunal.

Relying on Erudhaya Priya v. State Express Transport Corporation Ltd., 2020 SCC OnLine SC 601, the Court applied the principle that future prospects may be added when assessing compensation in personal-injury claims.

The Court assessed compensation by reference to the claimant’s established income, age, functional loss of earning capacity, and the evidence concerning her injuries and treatment.

The Court accepted the Tribunal’s finding that Gangamma’s monthly income was ₹4,500, supported by her employment records, but held that a 20% loss of earning capacity understated the impact of her injury on her work as a cook.

In light of her occupation, repeated fractures during treatment, and the medical evidence, it assessed that loss at 30%.

Applying 25% future prospects and a multiplier of 14, it calculated future loss of income at ₹2,83,500.

It left unchanged the awards for pain and suffering and medical expenses, conveyance, and incidental expenses; increased loss of amenities from ₹10,000 to ₹30,000; assessed seven months’ income loss during treatment at ₹31,500; and increased the future medical-expenses award for implant removal from ₹5,000 to ₹25,000.

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

The insurer was directed to deposit the reassessed amount within six weeks, after which the entire compensation, with interest, was to be released to Gangamma electronically.