A Delhi Motor Accident Claims Tribunal has awarded ₹8.49 lakh to a woman injured in a 2021 road accident, recognising a monthly notional income of ₹30,000 for her work as a homemaker even though her claim of earning ₹18,000 as a tailor was not proved.
Presiding Officer Manish Khurana directed United India General Insurance Company Limited, the insurer of the offending vehicle, to deposit the compensation within 30 days. If the payment is not made within that period, it will attract interest at nine per cent annually.
The order, dated October 12, concerns an accident near Bawana on January 18, 2021. The woman, then 33, was travelling on a motorcycle with her husband and son when a Mahindra Thar allegedly hit them at high speed. All three sustained grievous injuries.
The tribunal held that the accident was caused by the rash and negligent driving of Amit Kumar, the Thar’s driver-cum-owner. Kumar was chargesheeted under Sections 279, 337 and 338 of the Indian Penal Code. The tribunal noted that he neither cross-examined the woman nor led any evidence in the case.
In its order, the tribunal said, “It stands proved that the accident in question occurred due to rash and negligent driving of the offending vehicle by the respondent no. 1 (car driver), and the petitioner suffered injuries in the said accident.”
The woman’s permanent disability was assessed at six per cent in her left lower limb by a medical board. The tribunal considered the injury and other factors while calculating compensation under different heads, bringing the total award to ₹8.49 lakh.
For calculating the compensation, the tribunal relied on a Supreme Court judgment delivered on June 11 in Shishupal alias Shish Ram vs Surjeet. The judgment held that the loss of a homemaker’s domestic care must be monetised at a minimum notional income of ₹30,000 per month in motor vehicle accident compensation cases.
The ruling places the valuation of unpaid household work within the compensation framework used for road accident claims. In this case, the tribunal applied the ₹30,000 monthly figure even after rejecting the woman’s unproved claim that she earned ₹18,000 as a tailor.
The award also reflects the administrative chain involved in motor accident claims: a police chargesheet, assessment of disability by a medical board, determination of negligence by the tribunal and payment by the vehicle’s insurer. The insurer has 30 days from the order to deposit the amount, after which the specified interest will apply.
