Motor accident compensation must reflect whole-body disability and reasonable injury-related losses.

On 30 June 2021, the appellant was struck by a NWKRTC bus while walking inside the Ranebennur bus stand.

He sustained a forehead wound and a fracture of the left clavicle and sought compensation before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal.

The Tribunal partly allowed the claim and awarded ₹2,01,000.

The appellant appealed under Section 173(1) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, seeking enhancement, principally on the grounds that the whole-body disability assessment and compensation were inadequate

1. Whether the compensation awarded by the Tribunal was inadequate and warranted modification

2. What order should follow from the Court’s determination of the compensation issue

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

In assessing compensation, the Court considered the evidence of injury, disability, income, age and treatment, and quantified the loss of future income using the multiplier method; it also assessed compensation under distinct heads including pain and suffering, loss of amenities, medical expenses, attendant and incidental expenses, and loss during the laid-up period

The judgment cites no precedent or further statutory provision.

The Court considered the wound certificate, X-ray evidence and the doctor’s testimony concerning the fracture and disability.

It assessed whole-body disability at 7%, rather than the Tribunal’s 5%, and adopted monthly income of ₹14,250, age 40 and multiplier 15, resulting in ₹1,79,550 for loss of future earning capacity

It retained the ₹13,000 medical-expense award, but increased compensation for attendant and incidental expenses to ₹5,000, laid-up-period loss to ₹25,000, pain and suffering to ₹30,000, and loss of amenities to ₹20,000, having regard to the fracture and two-day hospitalisation

The claimant was denied interest on the enhanced amount for the 121-day delay in filing the appeal.

The order directed deposit within eight weeks and provided for deduction of amounts already deposited