Jodhpur: The Rajasthan State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission on Saturday ruled ruled that genuine accident claims cannot be denied on technical grounds such as delay in filing an FIR or absence of a postmortem, directing partial payout in a rejected case.A bench of Chairman Devendra Kachhawaha and members Surendra Singh and Liaqat Ali set aside a Dec 2023 order of the district commission and asked Tata AIG General Insurance to settle 75% of a Rs15 lakh personal accident claim on a non-standard basis.The case relates to Durg Singh, who suffered fatal head injuries after his vehicle overturned while trying to avoid a nilgai on the Shergarh–Setrawa road in Aug 2020. He died during treatment.Rejecting the earlier finding that the victim was brought dead, the Commission said hospital records clearly noted “head injury due to road accident,” and a doctor’s statement confirmed death due to excessive bleeding.On the insurer’s objections, the bench said procedural lapses like delayed FIR or no postmortem could not be attributed to the claimant, adding the delay was about 40 days, not over two months as claimed.Citing Supreme Court rulings, it held that genuine claims may be settled on a non-standard basis. The insurer was directed to pay Rs 11.25 lakh with 9% interest from Feb 23, 2022, and Rs 10,000 as litigation costs.
