Section 166: Accident compensation claims

Section 166 is the application route for claims described in section 165: death, bodily injury or damage to third-party property arising from the use of motor vehicles. An injured person, the owner of damaged property, all or any of a deceased person's legal representatives, or an authorised agent of the injured person or legal representatives may apply as specified in subsection (1). When all legal representatives do not join, the application is for the benefit of all, and the others must be added as respondents. The claimant's relationship and authority matter; a payment account alone does not establish them.

Subsection (2) gives the claimant choices of tribunal: the area where the accident occurred, where the claimant resides or carries on business, or where the defendant resides, subject to the prescribed form and particulars. It is not limited to the police-station area. Tribunal notifications, territorial jurisdiction and local procedural rules still need checking. Section 166(4) also tells the tribunal to treat an accident report forwarded under section 159 as a compensation application; do not assume this removes the need to check the report and participate in the proceedings.

Section 164 is a different statutory basis: it provides ₹5 lakh for death or ₹2.5 lakh for grievous hurt and removes the need to plead or establish wrongful act, neglect or default for that claim. A section 166 application is not a promise of either fixed amount: section 168 addresses the tribunal's inquiry and just compensation. Section 166(1)'s further proviso says accepting section 164 compensation through the section 149 procedure causes the claims petition to lapse. These routes are not an automatic double recovery. Section 167 separately addresses a choice where compensation is available under this Act and the specified employment-compensation law.

The 15 August 2026 English source prints six months in section 166(3), with a sufficient-cause proviso permitting a further period not exceeding twelve months. The older Hindi snapshot lacks that proviso. The Supreme Court's 4 November 2025 interim direction, reproduced in its March 2026 office report, says tribunals and High Courts must not dismiss claims on the section 166(3) limitation ground during the pendency of those petitions. These are distinct facts: printed statute, different language editions and an interim judicial direction. This page does not establish the latest case status or decide whether a particular accident claim is time-barred. Get the applicable orders and accident-date law checked promptly; neither assume automatic rejection after six months nor delay on the assumption of unlimited time.

To understand the issues in a claim, organise existing accident/report details, vehicle and insurer information, medical treatment records, available proof of income or property loss, and relationship/authority documents. This is an educational evidence map, not a universal mandatory filing list. Section 168 gives the parties an opportunity to be heard before an award; amounts depend on evidence and applicable law. An insurer's settlement offer under section 149 is a separate decision from a tribunal's contested award. Obtain the applicable forms and document requirements from the tribunal rather than submitting personal records to this website.