Income for motor accident compensation must be assessed based on prevailing minimum wages rather than conventional estimates.

The appellants (claimants), being the legal heirs of the deceased Basant Kumar Mandloi, filed a claim for compensation following a fatal motor accident involving a truck (bearing registration No. C.G.29 A 9002)

The 5th Additional Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Bilaspur, passed an award on 25.11.2019 in Claim Case No. 269/2019, awarding a total compensation of ₹10,86,910/-

Dissatisfied with the quantum, the appellants preferred this appeal seeking enhancement, contending that the Tribunal erred in assessing the deceased’s monthly income at ₹6,000/- instead of the prevailing minimum wage of ₹8,140/- and failed to award proper conventional heads

1. Whether the Claims Tribunal erred in assessing the monthly income of the deceased at ₹6,000/- instead of the applicable minimum wages

2. Whether the compensation awarded under conventional heads (loss of consortium, funeral expenses, and loss of estate) requires enhancement

The court primarily applied Section 173 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, regarding appeals against awards

It followed the principles of "just compensation" and the calculation of "Future Prospects" (25% enhancement for the deceased's age group) as established by the Supreme Court in National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi

The court also adhered to the mandate of applying statutory minimum wages for income assessment of unskilled labor in the absence of specific proof of higher income

The High Court observed that the Tribunal’s assessment of ₹6,000/- per month was factually incorrect as it fell below the minimum wages of ₹8,140/- per month prevailing at the time of the accident

Applying the corrected income, the Court recalculated the dependency by adding 25% for future prospects and deducting 1/4th towards personal expenses due to the number of dependents

The Court further found the Tribunal's awards for "Loss of Consortium" (₹40,000/-), "Funeral Expenses" (₹10,000/-), and "Loss of Estate" (₹10,000/-) to be inadequate and adjusted them to ₹2,00,000/-, ₹15,000/-, and ₹15,000/- respectively to align with standard judicial benchmarks

Medical expenses of ₹81,910/- were maintained as per the original award

The respondents were directed to pay the additional amount of ₹5,07,050/- with interest at 6% per annum from the date of filing the claim petition. The Court ordered the respondents to deposit said amount within three months, while all other conditions of the original award remained intact