Minimum wages used to assess income and calculate motor accident compensation where documentary proof of income is absent.

The appellants/claimants filed an appeal under Section 173(1) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, challenging the award dated 28.02.2022 passed by the Fifth Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Gwalior.

The Tribunal awarded Rs. 10,43,320/- following the accidental death of Sunil Rawat, a 21-year-old involved in agriculture and animal husbandry.

The appellants sought enhancement on the grounds that the Tribunal’s assessment of the deceased's monthly income at Rs. 6,100/- was grossly inadequate and failed to apply settled legal principles regarding conventional heads.

Liability and negligence were not in dispute.

1. Whether the income assessed by the Claims Tribunal was just and reasonable in the absence of documentary evidence.

2. Whether the appellants are entitled to enhanced compensation under the heads of future prospects, multiplier application, and conventional heads like consortium.

The court applied the Minimum Wages Act to assess income in the absence of documentary proof, relying on Sukhdevi v. Devendra Kumar and Kanwar Devi v. Bansal Roadways.

Regarding future prospects, it followed National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi, which mandates a 40% addition for deceased persons under 40 years of age.

The court applied the multiplier of 18 as per Sarla Verma v. Delhi Transport Corporation.

For conventional heads, it applied United India Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Satinder Kaur, granting parental consortium and loss of estate.

Since the deceased was a bachelor, a 1/2 deduction for personal expenses was applied.

The Court found that while the claimants failed to provide substantial evidence of the deceased's income, the Tribunal's assessment of Rs. 6,100/- was too low; it instead fixed the income at Rs. 7,325/- per month based on the prevailing minimum wages for unskilled workers.

Following the Pranay Sethi and Sarla Verma frameworks, the court calculated the annual income at Rs. 87,900/-, added 40% for future prospects (totaling Rs. 1,23,060/-), and deducted 50% for personal expenses, resulting in a dependency of Rs. 61,530/- per annum.

Applying the multiplier of 18, the loss of dependency was calculated at Rs. 11,07,540/-.

The court further corrected the conventional heads by awarding Rs. 80,000/- for consortium and Rs. 30,000/- for funeral expenses and loss of estate.

It held that the just compensation is Rs. 12,17,540/-, thereby granting an additional enhancement of Rs. 1,74,220/- over the original award.

The court directed that this enhanced amount carry interest as fixed by the Tribunal and be paid within three months.

The appellants were further directed to pay any differential Court fees if the enhanced amount exceeded the initial valuation.