The Act anticipates exactly this situation. Where no vehicle and no insurer can be identified, there is a statutory fund rather than nothing.
The provision
Section 161 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 provides for compensation in hit and run motor accidents, meaning accidents arising out of the use of a motor vehicle the identity of which cannot be ascertained despite reasonable efforts. Compensation is paid from a scheme funded by the government, and the amounts payable for death and for grievous hurt were substantially increased by the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 and the scheme notified under it. Confirm the current figures, since they are set by notification and are revised.
The figures are in the section itself. Section 161(2) fixes two lakh rupees in respect of death and fifty thousand rupees in respect of grievous hurt, in each case "or such higher amount as may be prescribed by the Central Government". The scheme now in force is the Compensation to Victims of Hit and Run Motor Accidents Scheme, 2022, which replaced the earlier Solatium Scheme with effect from 1 April 2022, and under which the amounts were raised to those levels from the far smaller sums payable before. Because the section allows a higher amount to be prescribed, check the current notification for a recent accident.
One point of statutory housekeeping, since the numbering moved with the 2019 amendment. The power to make the scheme is now in Section 161(3), and payment comes out of the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund constituted under Section 164B, which also funds cashless treatment during the golden hour under the scheme framed under Section 162. Section 163 today deals with something different: refund of hit and run compensation once full compensation is awarded.
- The FIR, registered even though the vehicle is untraced
- The post-mortem report, or the injury certificate and treatment records
- Proof of the deceased or injured person's income and age
- Proof of relationship for every claimant
- The police report on the untraced status of the vehicle
- Any CCTV, dashcam or eyewitness detail, gathered early before it is lost
- The claim petition before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, since the statutory scheme exists precisely for untraced vehicles
How to claim
- Register an FIR immediately. This is essential. Without a police record establishing that the vehicle was untraced, the claim cannot proceed.
- Obtain the final report from the police recording that the offending vehicle could not be traced.
- Apply to the Claims Enquiry Officer for the area, usually a designated revenue officer, who verifies and forwards the claim to the Claims Settlement Commissioner.
- Attach the post-mortem report or the medical records and disability certificate, proof of identity and relationship, and bank details.
The hit and run payment is a fixed statutory amount, not full compensation. If the offending vehicle and its insurer are subsequently identified, you can pursue a full claim under Section 166 before the Tribunal, and the amount already received under the hit and run scheme is adjusted against it. So taking the statutory sum does not close the door.
The mechanism is worth stating precisely, because it explains what the Tribunal will ask you. Under Section 163, before awarding compensation for the same death or injury under any other provision, the Tribunal must verify whether compensation has already been paid under Section 161 or whether an application under it is pending. If it has been paid, the Tribunal directs the person liable under its award to refund that amount to the insurer. If an application is still pending, the Tribunal forwards the particulars of its award to the insurer. So the adjustment is a refund out of the award, not a reduction of your entitlement, and you should disclose the hit and run payment rather than let it surface later. The full claim is computed on the ordinary principles, and our note on MACT compensation calculation sets out how the figure is built up.
The criminal side
Section 106(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita punishes causing death by a rash or negligent act. Section 134 of the Motor Vehicles Act separately imposes a duty on a driver to secure medical attention for the injured and to report the accident to the police.
Section 134 repays reading, because it sets three separate duties and each of them produces a document you may later need. The driver must take all reasonable steps to secure medical attention by conveying the injured person to the nearest medical practitioner or hospital, unless prevented by mob fury or another reason beyond his control, and the section correspondingly obliges every registered medical practitioner or the doctor on duty to attend to the injured person immediately, without waiting for procedural formalities. He must report the circumstances at the nearest police station as soon as possible and in any case within twenty four hours. And he must give written information to the insurer, including the policy number and validity, the date, time and place, particulars of those injured or killed, and the driver's licence particulars. For this section, "driver" includes the owner.
Section 106(2) BNS prescribes up to ten years for a driver who causes death and then escapes without reporting the incident. Following nationwide transporter protests, the Government deferred its enforcement, and it has remained held back while consultations continue. The Delhi High Court dismissed a petition seeking to compel its enforcement, holding that when to bring a provision into force is for the Central Government alone. So although the provision is on the statute book, do not assume the ten year punishment is being applied. Check the position at the time of your matter.
Two practical points
- Look for CCTV and toll records early. Footage is overwritten within days or weeks. A written request to the traffic police, the municipality and nearby establishments in the first week is what most often converts an untraced case into a traced one.
- Good Samaritans are protected. The Act and the Supreme Court's directions protect a bystander who takes an injured person to hospital from harassment, and they cannot be compelled to disclose their identity or made to pay for treatment.
Two more things to do in the first week, both of which change the outcome more often than the legal arguments do. Write to the jurisdictional traffic police asking for the accident register entry and any CCTV in their possession, and separately to the municipal authority and to every shop, petrol pump, apartment gate and toll plaza within sight of the spot, because each keeps its own footage on its own overwrite cycle. And ask the investigating officer, in writing, to obtain the electronic tolling records for that stretch and time window, which often produce a registration number when nothing else does. A hit and run case that becomes a traced case is worth many times the statutory sum, and our guide to motor accident compensation claims sets out what that fuller claim involves.