In a move that will benefit accident victims the Kolkata traffic police have decided to upload all accident-related documents for insurance companies to act upon and release the compensation quickly.
Along with it, motorists will now receive insurance premium due-date alerts from police, just like the pollution certificate renewal reminder they receive at present.
The twin decisions were taken by the Kolkata traffic police after a meeting with insurance companies recently. “When we asked them about the reasons for the delays, the insurance companies harped on the need for documents. We have written to IRDA and they suggested us to streamline the system that will help in tracking the papers. Accordingly, we will be uploading FIRs and other reports so that both the victim’s kin and the insurance companies — can access them,” said a senior Lalbazar official.
Police sources said they wanted the insurance information to be linked to their database just like the pollution certificates. This is a win-win situation for motorists and police, claimed senior officers. “One, we can easily alert motorists of approaching premium dates. Two, it will help us during manual checks to decipher if indeed a motorist has completed the formalities and three, it will help us locate fake claims, a major grouse among insurance companies,” explained an officer.
“We have spoken to IRDA Hyderabad extensively and it has been decided that data will be exchanged with insurance companies. We will see how we can take this issue forward,” said DC (Traffic) Sumit Kumar.
