[saikarthik]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

And to fix this, though we have a law, there is lot that happens and goes unnoticed.

It can happen, but I guess now the government has made the dealer one of the responsible party to get the vehicle registered right?

Also, It is good for corrupt cops too while people with no insurance are met with accident. They can threaten and take more $ by mediating.

[navpreet318]

Originally Posted by GTO

Quite sad.

Just wanted to add that an overwhelming majority of these uninsured vehicles are 2-wheelers. Car owners are relative saints in comparison (only when it comes to insurance ).

Well I neither agree nor disagree with the above report. Where are these numbers taken from?

How is it ascertained that all of these vehicles are being used currently. I have seen that a certain percentage of 2 wheelers are rendered useless within 2 to 3 years of being bought. Either the owners have outgrown these or have left these to rot or are impounded or have had a crash which the owner does not want to be repaired etc. Then you add a huge percentage of 2 wheelers which fall under finance delinquencies and are taken in by the Finance companies.

All of these are road worthy. Their fitness and registration is valid but they are not being used.
So where are the above figures coming from? How are they verifying that these are actually on the road?

I think what the insurance companies are doing is they are just checking the number of vehicles which fall under the valid fitness rule and haven't had a renewal.
This would be a very inaccurate way of summing things up especially when you make a headline that 57% of vehicles uninsured.

Next we come to these insurance companies themselves. I don't know how many of you use the mParivahan Application but it is a fantastic app which lets you know all things about your vehicle like insurance, pollution check etc.

Now a glaring issue has come up. You all know that it is now mandatory for all 2 wheelers to have a compulsory 5 year 3rd party insurance. Now problem is that after the first year this 5 year third party insurance is not showing on the mParivahan App, a version of which is also used by traffic cops to check the validity of the papers produced and due to this people are getting fined.

We are having to mail each of these problems case-wise to the insurance company so that it may reflect in the mParivahan app which they are doing after a short while.

In all I'd take this report not too seriously unless they can produce where they took this data from.

In this short duration of business I have learnt not to take any report at it's face value because a fresher or an intern MBA in all probability has made it to get a PAT on his back from a senior who then directs his entire team that they have such a huge opportunity to make money from renewals and these should be the new targets!
That MBA gets a job offer or a promotion for his presentation!

PS.: I too am a MBA so don't take it that I have anything against MBAs but such is the corporate world!

[DhruvGupt@]

There are lot of laws but it has more to do with the mind set of the people. People have this rowdy attitude that nothing will happen to them and the insurance cost seems unnecessary exenditure. It would also be interesting to see of the total insured vehicles how many have only third party insurance.

I too contribute to the list though, have an old bike sitting in the garage, dont use and dont insure, dont sell as it was my first love.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by mvadg

I'm not sure what kind of damage a 100 cc 2-wheeler can cause to justify such high premiums.

A 150cc motorcycle rammed into my cousins S5 a couple of months ago. It took out the bumper and misaligned the right passive-active rear exhaust. Part and labor cost were only a few lacs, as is normally the case with these flash Germans. The car was sitting at Audi for a little over a month for parts to arrive. Fortunately, the car was insured. The motorcycle was not. Never underestimate the damage that another vehicle can cause.

If 57% of vehicles on the road are not insured, you better make sure that your insurance does not lapse, even by one day, cause you never know what might ram into you.

[tilt]

Originally Posted by mvadg

*SNIP*
That's why I think we should do away with this 3rd party insurance for 2-wheelers - I don't see the government pay anything if their roads cause accidents.*SNIP*

Please correct me if I have misunderstood your meaning - but I believe you labour under a misconception about what Third-Party insurance is.

It is NOT that the third party (say, the government) pays you for any damage they cause, it is that YOUR insurance pays for any damage YOU cause to some third party.

Cheers

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by tilt

Please correct me if I have misunderstood your meaning - but I believe you labour under a misconception about what Third-Party insurance is.

It is NOT that the third party (say, the government) pays you for any damage they cause, it is that YOUR insurance pays for any damage YOU cause to some third party.

Cheers

You have a point. But if most people are not buying insurance and it is the public that is at risk, it would be better to collect the premium from everyone using vehicles, as a surcharge on fuel. It is not a punishment scenario. It is a public welfare measure. I am sure that the implementation of this will require a great deal of oversight - and I think it would require a separate discussion. Third party is typically some pedestrian or some public property; because you seem to be implying that the person who causes the damage must pay - for this, there is the law. Just imagine the situation where a hapless pedestrian is injured and the uninsured motorist is unable to pay - yes he should be in jail if he was drunk or otherwise responsible, but otherwise how is the pedestrian going to get hospitalized in a country where there's no free medical care?

[moralfibre]

Originally Posted by ruzbehxyz

Weak enforcement by traffic police in states, lack of follow-up by insurers and rising cost of third-party covers has resulted in a larger number of vehicle owners not renewing their motor insurance policy.

In the long run, fine enforcement will have to be automated. Vahan as a central database already holds records for insurance, PUC, fitness, etc. It should easily be able to detect violators. Beyond a grace period, all these vehicles should automatically get a challan and notification via sms. Failure to comply should be met with a % increase of late payment charges as well.

Some states haven't yet embraced technology and will continue to massage their voter base by justifying fines that were last revised 3 decades ago. The 1989 rate card was devised with fines commensurate to wages of yesteryears. Our economy has grown but fines have stayed where they are.

The only way this will yield revenue to the states and at the same time achieve adherence to the law is automation.

[Kosfactor]

Originally Posted by mvadg

. Just imagine the situation where a hapless pedestrian is injured and the uninsured motorist is unable to pay - yes he should be in jail if he was drunk or otherwise responsible, but otherwise how is the pedestrian going to get hospitalized in a country where there's no free medical care?

Yes third party insurance should be made mandatory even if a vehicle sits at home all year, maybe they can add a KM based increase \ decrease in premium as well,

In our country the constitution provides - 'Right to life' therefore emergency medical care is provided for sure, no hospital can deny it.

OT : Free medical care should be limited to emergency, just like government is not expected to give you free food, water and shelter everyday - it just wont work.

[charanreddy]

All this is fine until the concerned party is involved in a major accident and the matter goes to court. I am sure the judges would not take kindly to lack of insurance and there may be jail time involved in an otherwise simple case.

I have no problem believing that majority of the two wheels dont have insurance, especially in rural areas. Overtaxing already highly taxed petrol isn’t a good solution as there will be no one to hold accountable and frivolous claims will increase. Better enforcing, checking and on spot insurance renewal are good options. I.e. in addition to the fine the cop on the spot opens an app and collects and renews insurance money. If the motorist does not pay up vehicle is seized and can only be reclaimed post proof of insurance renewal .

[TrackDay]

A third party insurance is always a must. I guess folks are not aware about this, at least the one's who have less knowledge about insurance etc. It is about having to paying out from your own pocket once something bad happens to others arising from an accident caused by one's own vehicle.

[car-dent]

I sincerely feel Third party insurance should be a one-time fee at time of vehicle purchase just like road tax. The owners can then choose to do the own-damage insurance as per their wish.

This will ensure Compliance for third party insurance and no hassles of checking insurance. if a vehicle has valid registration, that would mean valid insurance as well.

[anb]

Originally Posted by car-dent

I sincerely feel Third party insurance should be a one-time fee at time of vehicle purchase just like road tax. The owners can then choose to do the own-damage insurance as per their wish.

We already pay a lot of amount as tax and insurance while purchasing vehicles. Wagon R today cost 7 lakhs on road while Audi Q2 costs 62 lakhs. This move make the cars even more difficult to afford for common people.

[mvadg]

Originally Posted by anb

We already pay a lot of amount as tax and insurance while purchasing vehicles. Wagon R today cost 7 lakhs on road while Audi Q2 costs 62 lakhs. This move make the cars even more difficult to afford for common people.

This is just as essential as having a road to drive on. Statistically, there will be accidents due to driving a vehicle in a public space with other entities. This must be compensated for by paying for the damage in a statistical manner - that is what insurance is. Why would you not want others to pay into the pool? This is what is happening now - 57% are not paying their share, and this takes care of that problem. In fact, both insurance and road tax should be included in the cost of the vehicle so that no one can wiggle out of it.

[alikidwhy]

I do not have high hopes for us.

It’s not just the premium but the service provided by Insurance Companies in the case of a claim. For instance, I claimed insurance for the first time in my Life (first in my family even, ever) for my 2 Wheeler, Yamaha Ray Zr and I initiated the claim on 9 November 2020 and am yet to receive the claim amount.

Btw, did I say that I was given an estimate of 8,000 by the dealership and the surveyor turned it into 4,700 and also, the final was 3,900 and the repairs were completed a fortnight ago yet I haven’t received anything? Or that I have to send multiple emails to get an update or that I had to courier the original bill to the surveyor because apparently that’s how it works?

Yes, it is a Government Insurance Company.

[chinmaypillay]

I feel the main issue is with the rising premium amount year on year, sometimes it is very tempting to not renew insurance especially for motorcycles seeing the cost. Ignorance and many people not aware of the importance of insurance, costs would be the major reason for the insurance not being opted for.

How many of us actually claim the insurance for motorcycles after 3 to 4 years of ownership? Rise in fuel prices, maintenance costs run most of the people dry with no money to spend on insurance.

Maybe some schemes like monthly payment, or paying insurance only when taking the vehicle (if not used regularly) can be looked into to encourage people.