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Indian Trains, Accident and Compensation

1 Comment / Publications, Research paper

Abstract

The paper is about train accident and the compensation for the victims. The paper contains contents about Indian railway, the train accident and its causes ,  Compensation allowed to victims in Indian Railway Act,1989.

The main cause of train accident are derailment and sabotage. Train accident led to loss of death and severe injuries. Indian railway lacks new technologies. Vande Bharat is the new hope for the country. Railway system is in severe loss. Every year it’s net revenue decrease to negative.

The most deadliest train accident of India was Bihar train derailment which lead to the death of 750+ lives.

Who is liable to get compensation and who is not is all been described in the section 124 of Indian railway act.

This section talks about the compensation. One can file it’s claim of compensation in Railway Train Tribunal.

This paper contains the liability and those conditions in which people are not liable for compensation , documentation required, procedure and limitations.

Keywords

Railway train tribunal, sabotage, IBEF, Bona fide, interim relief, limitation period, facilitation , compensation,

Introduction

Indian railway system

India is a vast country and railway is known as the lifeline of the nation. It not only transport passengers and goods from one place to another but also it is a common thread between the people which make them unite.

     Railway plays a great role in uniting people. People in India loves to travel by train . In the population of 135 crore, almost 2 crore people travel by train daily and about 22,593 trains are operated on the daily basis, according to the report of trust India Brand Equity Foundation (IBEA) of ministry of Commerce. In which 13,452 are passengers trains which cover approx 7,325 stations of the country daily

    Apart from these about 9,141 goods train are departured daily. Adding up the total distance covered by both the goods train and passenger train together is about 67,368 km daily.

     With such a big number, [1]Indian rail network is the fourth longest rail network in the world. After independence yet Indian railway has not changed much. Severe injuries and accident happens due to lack of technologies.

Train accidents are so common in India. Indian railway suffers [2]great loss every year. In FY 2021-2022 Indian railway recorded a negative net revenue of ₹15,024.58 crore.

Train accident

 Train accident led to severe injuries and death. The railway technologies are not that much developed. [3]Railway accident may occur due to severe reasons such as sabotage and derailment etc.

   After independence India has gone through severe train accident but most deadliest train accident was [4]Bihar train derailment which led to the death of 780+ people.

Compensation

When the train accident occurs railways becomes liable to give compensation to the victims. This amount differs from situation to situation like ₹500 for simple injury to ₹15,000 for severe injury to ₹50,000 for death.[5]

Research Methodology

This research is being completed by secondary sources. Several Websites, journals and news articles have been used for the deep analysis of train accident and compensation to its victims. The paper has been written in descriptive manner and the paper is based on the secondary sources.

Review of literature

Recent Odisha triple train collision has became a controversial topic . This accident happened between a goods train , Koromandel Express and Bangalore Howdah Superfast Express on 2nd of June 2023 which led to death of 278 people and 1100+ people injury.

This accident became one of the most deadliest train accident..

Reasons of train accidents

Train accident may happen due to several reasons such as[6]:

  • Head-on- collision
  • Rear-end-collision
  • Derailment
  • Fire explosion
  • Due to driver and signalman error
  • Mechanical failure of rolling stock
  • Terrorism
  • Flood
  • Sabotage etc.

Liability of Indian railway for compensation[7]

The Railway are liable to pay compensation for death /injury of a passenger in train accident as defined under Section 124 of the Railway Act, 1989. Similarly the railway are also liable to pay compensation for death / injury to a passenger and platform ticket holder in untoward incidents as defined under section 124 -A of the Act, such as terrorist acts violent attack, robbery, dacoity, rioting, shoot out or arson by any person in train or within the precincts of a railway station or accidental falling of a passenger from train.[8]

Non liability for compensation[9]

Sec 124A of India railway act, 1989 Provided that no compensation shall be payable under this section by the railway administration if the passenger dies or suffers injury due to:

  • Suicide or attempted suicide by him;
  • Self-infficented injury;
  • His own criminal act;
  •  Any act omitted by him in a state of intoxication or insanity;
  • Any natural cause or disease or medical or surgical treatment unless such Treatment becomes necessary due to injury caused by the said untoward Incident.

            Where to claim for compensation

Sec 125 of Railway Act 1989 , allows a victim or party of a deceased person to file an application for claiming compensation along with the prescribed fees.

    The application has to be filed at Railway tribunal as per sec 17 of the act[10] with the certain limitation period[11]as mentioned below:

  1. In the case of loss of goods, damage or non delivery of animals etc, li0mitation period is 3 years
  2. In the condition mentioned in sec 124A limitation  period is one year.

   Interim relief to victims of train accident

After the amendment in Railway Act by Indian government, the compensation has been made twice in the case of person suffering from serious injuries or death . Initially the amount of compensation was ₹ 4 lakh but now it has increased to ₹8 lakh for the case of death and serious injury .

The compensation is granted to the dependent of the victim by Railway Claim Tribunal who have died or suffered serious injury.

  • In the case, person become blind or losses his eyesight , is also liable to 8 lakh compensation.
  • For injuries, the amount varies from ₹32,000 to ₹8 lakh depending upon the nature of the injury.

Ex-Gratia Relief

Ex-gratia relief is granted by railway board just after an accident with the moral relief of ₹500 for simple injury, ₹5000 fir serious injury and ₹15,000 for death.[12]

Required particulars of claimant

Several particulars are mentioned below:

  • Name of claimant
  • His father’s name
  • Age
  • Residence
  • Permanent address
  • Profession
  • Ticket or pass number
  • Medical certificate
  • Details of loss
  • Amount of compensation claimed, etc.

Documents required for facilitation of claim by tribunal

Documents required for facilitation of claim by the tribunal are mentioned below:

  • Post–mortemreportiftheperson is dead .
  • If death or injury, then copy of the FIR.
  • If person suffered injuries then medical report which contain all the details of such injuries by a certified and verified doctors.
  • Death certificate issued by district administration if the victim is dead.
  • Registered proof of claimant and victim.

Suggestion and conclusion

Tickets are the safest option to travel with trains. These provide guarantee of compensation and insurance of life in case of any train accident . One must travel with their valid ID proof everywhere and must follow the rules and regulations. If we cooperate with the Railways, then the Railways will cooperate with us.

[13]No fee is charged for filing accident/untoward incident claim in Railway Claims Tribunals so one must be aware of fraudulent.

Author

Name: Divya

University name: University of Allahabad

Bibliography

Articles

  • [Chronology of major Indian train accidents]. [The Times of India]. [14 December 2004]. [Archived original on 27 March 2009].

Books

  • Bare act[Universal’s], [Indian Railway Act,1989],[2016]
  • Bare act [Universal’s], [The Railway Claims Tribunals Act,1987],[2016]

            Online source

[1] Indian railway track is the 4th longest network in the world.00

[2] Budget 2021-22 analysis.

[3] Wikipedia

[4] 1981

[5] Indian railway act,1989

[6] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_railway_accidents_and_incidents_in_India

Chronology of major Indian train accidents”. The Times  India. 14 December 2004. Archived from the original on 27 March 2009.

[7] Indian railway act,1989 (sec 124)

[8] https://ser.indianrailways.gov.in/view_section.jsp?lang=0&id=0,2,406,588,589,1281,1288

[9] Sec 124A of railway act

[10] Indian railway act, 1989

[11] Means “a legally specified period beyond which an action may be defeated or a right does not continue

[12] Source: Ministry of Railways (Railway Board)

https://indianrailways.gov.in/railwayboard/view_section.jsp?lang=0&id=0,1,304,366,390,412,1161

[13] https://wcr.indianrailways.gov.in/print_section.jsp?lang=0&id=0,1,304,368,836,851

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