Punjab raises compensation amount of injury, death: Motor Vehicle Ordinance 1965 amended

The Punjab government has increased the compensation amount in case of injury and death to a passenger in road accidents and amended "The Motor Vehicle Ordinance 1965" for this purposes. The government would introduce The Provincial Motor Vehicle (Amendment) Bill 2010 in forthcoming meeting of the Punjab Assembly for new compensation schedule.
The new compensation amount would be applicable on those motors which carry not more than six passengers and the compensation amount would be paid to the driver, permit holder or the owner of the vehicle to the passenger or the legal heirs of the passenger. The amount of new compensation in case of death or injury during the road accidents decided by the provincial government was as under:
Loss of death Rs 250,000, loss of arm at above the elbow Rs 65,000, loss of arm below the elbow Rs 50,000, loss of leg at or above the knee Rs 65,000, loss of leg below the knee Rs 60,000, loss of both legs Rs 140,000, permanent loss of hearing Rs 65,000, loss of one eye Rs 75,000, loss of both eyes Rs 140,000, loss of thumb Rs 40,000, loss of all fingers of one foot Rs 50,000, loss of index finger Rs 40,000, loss of great toe Rs 33,000, permanent disfiguration of the face or head Rs 50,000, fracture or dislocation of a bone Rs 40,000, emasculation Rs 50,000, loss of one tooth Rs 12,500, loss of two or more teeth Rs 25,000, any injury which endangers life or which causes the sufferer to be, during the space of twenty days, serve bodily pain, or renders him unable to follow his ordinary pursuits Rs 25,000, an injury not specified above Rs 10,000.
A senior official of the Transport department said that Punjab Assembly standing committee on transport has passed the amended bill and it would be presented in the coming meeting session of the Punjab Assembly. The new compensation amount would be implemented when provincial assembly would pass the amended bill, sources added. The artificial limb expert and President of Hope Rehabilitation Society Dr Khalid Niazi and other organisation of the social welfare have welcomed the government's decision to increase the compensation amount in road accidents.
He said the existing compensation schedule had introduce in 1978. They further said that after lapse of 32 years it was necessary to revise the amount of compensation in case of death and injury to passengers patricianly in the wake of increasing road accidents. Niazi proposed that increase in the amount of compensation for disability was also necessary because the prices of artificial limbs were sky rocketing.