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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Rs 2 lakh bonanza for RTI applicant by Sunchika B Pandey

Rs 2 lakh bonanza for RTI applicant by Sunchika B Pandey

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published Published on Feb 9, 2011   modified Modified on Feb 9, 2011
The wait has been long, but Prakash Sheth, 45, can now say it has been worth the wait. In a rare judgment, the chief information commissioner (CIC) awarded Rs2 lakh as compensation to Sheth, who was made to run from pillar to post to get a reply to his RTI query.

He had submitted an application to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority (IRDA), Hyderabad, on September 29, 2009.

He had sought information on why the IRDA refused to intervene and give binding directions to an insurance company to pay claims with interest in all cases except three out of 756 complaints pending with it. The IRDA said it had no authority to issue directions in case of settlement of insurance claim.

“The IRDA could give orders to the insurance company to settle insurance claims under section 64(UM) of the Insurance Act, 1938. In 2003, the additional solicitor-general had also opined that the IRDA was within its rights to give orders to insurance companies,” Sheth told DNA. “I wondered why the IRDA issued orders only for three claims and not for the others.”

Seth approached the IRDA in 2007 and asked the body to instruct the New India Assurance Company to clear his nephew’s insurance amount.

His nephew died in a road accident while driving his father’s car on May 7, 2004. “The request was refused by the IRDA, saying it did not have such powers,” Seth, a resident of Walkeshwar, said.

A printing error by the Traffic Advisory Committee (TAC) was allegedly the reason for the claim being rejected. The New India Assurance Company denied the Rs2 lakh compensation, saying the deceased was neither the owner-driver nor a paid driver. It mentioned the policies governed by the TAC to justify its decision.

However, it was later found out that the company took advantage of a printing error on the TAC’s website which unintentionally included the phrase “but not driving”. It meant that a deceased’s family was entitled to insurance only if the victim was not driving. Though the error was rectified and conveyed to the authorities through a circular dated October 4, 2005, it was not being adhered to.

In July 2007, Seth requested the IRDA and TAC to declare the correction in the circular with ‘retrospective effect’ so that all the cases between 2002 and 2005 are covered. “Why should any of the families during that period suffer because of the TAC’s mistake?” asked Sheth. He made the same plea to the CIC. The TAC then issued a circular in 2009 declaring that their circular would be retrospectively applicable from July 2002.


DNA, 9 February, 2011, http://www.dnaindia.com/mumbai/report_rs2-lakh-bonanza-for-rti-applicant_1505252


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