Poor TPI rate among vehicle owners

Concerned at the low number of vehicle owners going for Third Party Insurance in India, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MORTH) is putting together a data of all such vehicles to gauge the exact number of offenders. All states and union territories have been told to start special drives and to take corrective steps to ensure the vehicle owners comply with the law.

Vehicle owner get Third-Party insurance (TPI) done to protect against damage or injury done to another person. According to a MORTH official, vehicle owners get the TPI done during the time of purchase as the automobile agencies themselves provide the insurance to buyers. “However, the problem starts in the subsequent years when vehicle owners fail to renew the insurance due to either ignorance or other reasons,” an official says.

According to the data compiled by companies involved with general insurance, about 40-50% of motorbikes in India do not adhere to TPI. In comparison, around 10% of cars and around 7% of commercial vehicles run without TPI. “Although the percentage of cars and commercial vehicles not complying with TPI are lower than that of bikes, the number is still significant when you take into consideration the sheer number of cars and commercial vehicles plying on the roads,” said a senior executive of a general insurance company.

 According to an estimate, the number of registered vehicles in India is around 100 million, with the nation being the fifth largest vehicle producer in the world.

“Bringing an uninsured vehicle in a public place is not only an offence under the Motor Vehicle Act, it also leads to serious implications in case the vehicle is involved in an accident. Since the government hardly helps accident victims involved in hit-and-run cases, or in accidents, it is mandatory to get TPI renewed,” says Ashok Dattar, a transport expert.