NEW DELHI, 6 May: Road accident victims all over India will be entitled for cashless treatment of up to Rs 1.5 lakh for the first seven days at designated hospitals, said a notification issued by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), issued on Tuesday.
According to a gazette notification, the Cashless Treatment of Road Accident Victims Scheme, 2025 has come into force with effect from 5 May, 2025.
The scheme is aimed at reducing the number of deaths arising from road accidents every year due to delay in timely medical intervention.
“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 notification said.
The National Health Authority (NHA) shall be the implementing agency for the programme, in coordination with police, hospitals, state health agencies, etc.
“The victim shall be entitled to cashless treatment at any designated hospital for an amount up to one lakh fifty thousand rupees per victim for a maximum period of seven days from the date of such accident,” it added.
According to the notification, 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.
As per 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.
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 the CEO of the National Health Authority and the additional secretary of the MoRTH as members.
On 14 March, 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.
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. (PTI)
