The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) is planning cashless treatment for victims of road accidents, including drivers, passengers, pedestrians, and cyclists, on identified national highway stretches between Delhi and Mumbai, Mumbai-Chennai, Chennai-Kolkata, KolkataAgra, and Agra-Delhi corridors of the Golden Quadrilateral for treatment of physical injury caused due to road accidents.
The scheme will cover the victims’ immediate hospitalisation needs for the first 48 hours or provision of necessary treatment, whichever comes first, up to a maximum cost of Rs 30,000, starting from the time the ambulance arrives at the accident site as recorded in the control room.
The tender for the cashless treatment facility has been invited from the insurance companies registered with IRDAI or enabled by a Central legislation to undertake insurancerelated activities for at least the last five years having a claim settlement ratio of notless than 85 per cent in the last three years.
Union Road Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari stated in the Lok Sabha that the lessons learned from the implementation of this scheme may be applied to other national highways, and the success of the scheme will be determined only after the bidding process is completed and the selected insurance company is on-boarded.