How to File a MACT Claim: Motor Accident Compensation India

File a written petition under Section 166 of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, naming the driver, the vehicle owner and the insurer as respondents. There is no court fee on the claim. You can file in the tribunal where the accident happened, where you live or work, or where the respondent lives. Try to file within six months of the accident.

Short on time? Jump to the step-by-step below, gather the FIR copy and the accident charge sheet, and file the Section 166 petition. If you need a quick, fixed sum without proving fault, consider the Section 164 no-fault route instead.

A MACT claim is a compensation case, not a criminal case. The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal (a special civil tribunal) decides how much the at-fault driver, owner and insurer must pay you for injury, disability or a death in the family. It runs separately from any FIR or police case against the driver, and separately from your own car or bike insurance.

Three provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 (as amended by the MV Amendment Act 2019) do the heavy lifting.

• Section 166 is the main claim. You allege the accident happened because the other driver was negligent, and the tribunal awards “just compensation” against the driver, owner and insurer.
• Section 164 is no-fault relief. The owner or insurer must pay ₹5 lakh for a death and ₹2.5 lakh for grievous hurt, and you do not have to prove anyone was negligent. The Act says the claimant need not “plead or establish that the death or grievous hurt…was due to any wrongful act or neglect or default.” Section 164 is an alternative, not an add-on: if you accept the fixed Section 164 amount, your full Section 166 claim lapses. So Section 164 suits cases where fault is hard to prove or you need certainty fast. Section 164 replaced the old Section 140 and Section 163A, which the 2019 amendment deleted. If you see old pages citing “Section 140”, that is the repealed version.
• Section 161 covers a hit-and-run, where the vehicle is never traced. A separate government fund pays ₹2 lakh for death and ₹50,000 for grievous hurt under the Compensation to Victims of Hit and Run Motor Accidents Scheme, 2022, which came into force on 1 April 2022 and replaced the old Solatium Scheme 1989.

The 2019 amendment put a limitation period back into the law. Section 166(3) says “no application for compensation shall be entertained unless it is made within six months of the occurrence of the accident.” This sub-section was notified with effect from 1 April 2022, so it applies to accidents on or after that date.

Do not panic if you are slightly late. Several High Courts (Gujarat, Gauhati, Allahabad) have held that this six-month rule is not an automatic, fatal bar, and that a tribunal can still admit a delayed claim for sufficient cause. But the safe rule is simple: file within six months. Do not rely on a court excusing your delay.

1. Get the police papers. Obtain a copy of the FIR and, once police finish, the Accident Information Report or charge sheet. These fix the date, place and the offending vehicle number. You can ask the police station, or use an RTI to the police PIO if they stall.
2. Collect proof of loss. For an injury, keep every hospital bill, prescription, discharge summary and disability certificate. For a death, get the post-mortem report, death certificate and proof of the deceased's income (salary slips, ITR, or for self-employed, accounts and an income certificate).
3. Identify the respondents. You need the driver's name, the owner's name from the vehicle registration, and the insurer's name and policy number. The insurer pays the award, so naming the right insurance company matters.
4. Draft the claim petition. A typed petition under Section 166 sets out the accident, the negligence, your losses and the amount claimed. If you instead want the fixed no-fault sum, file under Section 164 rather than Section 166, since the two are alternatives.
5. File at the right tribunal. File in the MACT where the accident occurred, where you reside or carry on business, or where the respondent resides. There is no court fee. You can engage a lawyer or use free legal aid.
6. Attend the hearings. The tribunal issues notice to the insurer. The insurer files a reply, often disputing negligence or the income figures. Evidence is led, the doctor or a witness may be examined, and the tribunal passes an award. The insurer must usually deposit the awarded amount, and you withdraw it (often part as a fixed deposit).

• FIR copy and Accident Information Report / charge sheet
• Injured: hospital bills, treatment records, disability certificate
• Death: death certificate, post-mortem report, legal heir certificate
• Income proof: salary slips, ITR, or income certificate for the self-employed
• Vehicle and insurance details of the offending vehicle
• Your ID and, for dependants, proof of relationship

For a death claim, tribunals use the multiplier method settled by the Supreme Court Constitution Bench in National Insurance Co. Ltd v. Pranay Sethi (2017), which built on Sarla Verma (2009).

The core formula is: annual income x a multiplier (chosen by the age of the deceased) x the share left after deducting personal and living expenses.

On top of the income, the court adds future prospects: an extra 50% if the deceased had a permanent job and was under 40, 30% for ages 40 to 50, and 15% for ages 50 to 60. Pranay Sethi also fixed conventional, non-pecuniary heads, loss of estate, loss of consortium and funeral expenses, with the amounts rising 10% every three years. For an injury claim, you also recover medical expenses, loss of earning capacity, and pain and suffering.

You do not have to do this maths perfectly yourself. State your income honestly and prove it; the tribunal applies the formula.

Insurers routinely contest negligence, dispute the income proof, or offer a quick, low lump sum. A low early offer is rarely “just compensation”.

You can settle the claim in a Lok Adalat, where an agreed award is final and binding and there is no further appeal. This is faster and avoids years of litigation, but only accept a figure that reflects the multiplier-method maths above. If the offer is far below that, let the tribunal decide. You keep the right to appeal a tribunal award to the High Court if it is too low.

The injured person files for an injury. For a death, the legal representatives and dependants of the deceased file, spouse, children and parents. A legal heir certificate or similar proof of relationship establishes who is entitled.

It varies by state and tribunal load, often one to three years for a contested claim. Section 164 no-fault relief and interim payments can come sooner. A Lok Adalat settlement can close the matter in a single sitting if both sides agree.

No, but it helps. The procedure, evidence and the multiplier-method calculation are technical, and the insurer will have a lawyer. If you cannot afford one, you qualify for free legal aid through the District Legal Services Authority. See Lok Adalat and free legal aid eligibility.

No. A motor accident claim petition under Section 166 carries no court fee. This is deliberate, so that cost does not stop accident victims from claiming.

For a genuine hit-and-run where the vehicle is untraced, claim from the government fund under the Compensation to Victims of Hit and Run Motor Accidents Scheme, 2022: ₹2 lakh for death and ₹50,000 for grievous hurt. Apply to the Claims Enquiry Officer (usually the local SDM/Tahsildar) for your area.

Your own insurance is a separate contract. A MACT claim is against the at-fault party and their insurer. If your insurer wrongly denies or delays your own policy claim, that is an insurance-regulation grievance, escalate it through the insurance regulator and ombudsman route, not the MACT.

• Note the accident date and count six months forward; mark that deadline.
• Request the FIR copy from the police station, or draft an RTI to the police PIO.
• Start a folder for every hospital bill, the death certificate or disability certificate, and income proof.
• Find your offending-vehicle details: registration number, owner and insurer.
• If money is needed fast and fault is hard to prove, weigh the Section 164 no-fault route against a full Section 166 claim.

• Motor Vehicles Act 1988, Section 166 (claim, jurisdiction, six-month limitation): India Code
• Motor Vehicles Act 1988, Section 164 (no-fault ₹5 lakh / ₹2.5 lakh): India Code
• Compensation to Victims of Hit and Run Motor Accidents Scheme, 2022 (₹2 lakh / ₹50,000, w.e.f. 1 April 2022): MoRTH notification, reported
• National Insurance Co. Ltd v. Pranay Sethi, (2017) 16 SCC 680 (multiplier and future prospects): Supreme Court Constitution Bench

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• Which regulator to complain to: SEBI, RBI, IRDAI, TRAI, DGCA
• The RTI Playbook

• How the motor accident multiplier method works
• Full Prosthetic Limb Compensation After an Accident

Related guide: MACT: self-employed victims also get future prospects: SC 2025

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