In what may prove to be a huge relief to victims of road accidents, a new scheme entitles each victim to cashless treatment of up to Rs. 1.5 lakh per accident. Brought into effect from May 5, 2025, a government notification issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) on Tuesday announced the Cashless Treatment of Road Accident Victims Scheme, 2025, for road accident victims nationwide for the first seven days at designated hospitals.
The National Health Authority (NHA) will implement the scheme in coordination with police, hospitals, and state health agencies. “Any person being a victim of a road accident arising out of the use of a motor vehicle, occurring on any road, shall be entitled to cashless treatment in accordance with the provisions of this scheme,” the government notification said, adding that the treatment under this scheme at a hospital, other than a designated hospital, shall be for stabilisation purposes only and shall be as specified by the guidelines.
According to the notification, the State Road Safety Council shall be the nodal agency for implementation of the scheme for that state or Union Territory and would be responsible for coordinating with the National Health Authority for adoption and utilisation of the portal for onboarding of designated hospitals, treatment of victims, payment to the designated hospital on treatment and related matters.
Recently, Road Transport and Highways minister Nitin Gadkari had said that there were 4.80 lakh road accidents in 2023, resulting in 1.72 lakh deaths. The cashless treatment of road accident victims scheme aims to save lives that are at danger of being lost due to delay in timely medical intervention.
The government has also set up an 11-member steering committee under the road secretary to monitor the implementation of the scheme. The committee will comprise CEO of National Health Authority, and additional secretary of MoRTH as members.
On March 14, 2024, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had launched a pilot programme in Chandigarh which was later expanded to six states to provide cashless treatment to road accident victims.
Prior to that, amendments were made to the Motor Vehicles Act in 1994 that made it mandatory on both the driver/owner of the vehicle to take the accident victim to the nearest doctor, and the doctor to treat the victim without waiting for any formalities.
Follow us
