Motor Accident Tribunals may consider uncontroverted medical bills despite their non-exhibition.

The claimant was injured when a car struck his motorcycle on 20 February 2023.

He filed a claim under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (Aux.), Bhuj-Kachchh, partly allowed the claim and awarded Rs.7,50,000 with interest.

The claimant appealed, contending that the Tribunal had wrongly omitted actual loss of income and medical expenses and had inadequately assessed pain and suffering.

The High Court noted that the claimant’s income was not proved, that he had sustained at least three fractures, and that medical bills totalling Rs.1,84,345 had been produced but not formally exhibited.

Whether the claimant was entitled to additional compensation for actual loss of income and medical expenses despite the absence of proved income and the medical bills not being formally exhibited

Whether the amounts awarded for pain, shock and suffering and interest required enhancement

Sections 166 and 168 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 provide for claims arising from motor-vehicle accidents and an award of just compensation; Section 171 empowers the Tribunal to award interest on compensation.

The Court relied on Vimladevi v. National Insurance Co. Ltd., (2019) 2 SCC 186, for the principle that the Act is beneficial legislation and that strict rules of evidence applicable to ordinary civil proceedings need not be applied rigidly in claims proceedings; accordingly, a document should not be rejected solely because it was not formally exhibited.

In the absence of evidence establishing the claimant’s income, the Court assessed his monthly income at Rs.9,887 by reference to the prevailing minimum wage for a skilled labourer.

Given the fractures, it found that he would have been unable to work for six months and awarded Rs.60,000 for actual loss of income.

Applying the principle in Vimladevi, the Court held that the uncontroverted medical bills could not be rejected merely because they were not formally exhibited and allowed Rs.1,84,345 for medical expenses.

It increased pain, shock and suffering from Rs.25,000 to Rs.50,000 in view of the three fractures, and enhanced the interest rate to 9% per annum.

The Court calculated total compensation at Rs.10,66,921, less the Rs.7,50,000 already awarded.

The insurer was directed to deposit the enhanced amount within eight weeks, subject to credit for sums already deposited; the Tribunal was directed to disburse the amount after verification and to deduct any unpaid court fees.