State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission
Icici Lombard Gen Ins Co Ltd vs Patel Bhikhabhai K on 22 April, 2022
Details DD MM YY
Date of Judgment 22 04 2022
Date of filling 01 03 2016
Duration 21 01 06
BEFORE THE CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION,
GUJARAT STATE AT AHMEDABAD.
Court-3
APPEAL NO. 116 of 2018 Dt: 22.04.2022
ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co. Ltd.
7/9, Zodiac Square, Opp. Gurudwara,
Near Thaltej Cross Road, S.G. Highway,
Ahmedabad. ...Appellant
Vs.
Patel Bhikhabhai Kantibhai
Vrundavan Society, Arvalli,
Dist: Arvalli. ...Respondent
Appearance: Mr. N. S. Dave, Ld. Advocate for the appellant
Mr. R. U. Nahar, Ld. Advocate for the respondent
Coram: (Shri S. N. Vakil, Judicial Member)
(Ms. P. R. Shah, Member)
Order by Ms. P. R. Shah, Member
1. Being aggrieved with the order dated 28.07.2015 in CC No. 232 of 2013 of the Learned District Commission, Ahmedabad (Rural), the appellant has filed this appeal.
2. The Appellant was the Original Opponent and Respondent was the Original Complainant in the complaint and their status will be the same.
3. Heard Ld. Advocate Shri. N. S. Dave, for the United India Insurance Co. Ltd. and Shri R. U. Nahar, for the respondent. K.S.P A-18-116 Page 1 of 11
4. Facts of the complaint in brief: The complainant is the owner of the truck No. GJ-9-Z-8382 and had taken a General Insurance Policy No. 3008/70539309/00/000 for the sum insured of Rs. 23,53,000/- from the Appellant - ICICI Lombard General Insurance Co. Ltd. for the period from 24.03.2012 to 23.03.2013. On 16.05.2012 the truck which was carrying sand overturned. The complainant arranged for the truck to be taken to cargo Motors on 16.05.2012 itself for the survey of damages. The appellant was given intimation and all necessary documents and a claim form for Rs. 3,59,500/- was submitted. The appellant repudiated the claim on 5.11.2012 on the ground that on the date of the accident, driving licence of the driver was not valid. The appellant had contended that the driving licence of the driver had expired on 16.04.2012 and the insured had renewed the driving licence on 22.05.2012 and as per the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 the driving licence should have been renewed within 30 days. Accident happened on 16.05.2012. In these circumstances, the driving licence was not valid at the time of accident and on this ground the opponent repudiated the claim. The appellant also sent their IRDA approved surveyor who assessed the net loss of Rs. 2,29,260/- and the total payable loss at Rs. 2,17,495/-.
5. Order under challenge: The Ld. Forum partly allowed the complaint and ordered the opponent to pay the loss of Rs. K.S.P A-18-116 Page 2 of 11 2,29,260/- with 9% interest from the date 15.11.2012 of repudiation of the claim to the complainant for the loss due to damage to his truck No. GJ-9-Z-8382. The Ld. Forum further in its order asked the opponent to pay Rs. 5,000/- towards mental harassment and inconvenience and Rs. 2,500/- towards legal expenses.
The Ld. Forum had held that the Driving Licence of the driver of the complainant was valid as per Section 14 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 for 30 days after expiry and because the accident had occurred during the validity of the licence, the insurance company is liable to pay the loss incurred by the complainant and therefore the repudiation by the insurance company was not justified.
6. Major grounds of appeal: The driver of the truck which met with the accident did not have a valid licence on the date of the accident. The driving licence was valid upto 16.04.2012, whereas the accident took place on 16.05.2012. The application for renewal of driving licence was filed on 22.05.2012, which was not within 30 days from the date of expiry. Therefore from the date of expiry i.e. 16.04.2012 till 22.05.2012, the driver was not having a valid driving licence and even as per provisions of Section 14 and 15 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 specifically provides so.
7. The Ld. Counsel for the appellant had drawn note that the Ld. Forum has awarded Rs. 2,29,260/- as per the surveyor's report, which was the net amount and after deducting compulsory excess K.S.P A-18-116 Page 3 of 11 (single) of Rs. 11,765/- the total payable amount would be Rs. 2,17,495/-.
In the oral submissions the Ld. Counsel for the appellant had also objected to Ld. Forum's order, wherein the damage was awarded from the date of repudiation, and pleaded that the award for damage should be from the date of filing of the complaint.
8. The issue for consideration here is whether the driver of the truck which met with an accident had a valid driving licence on the day of the accident or not?
9. The appellant has repudiated the claim of the complainant on grounds that the driver of the complainant's truck did not have a valid driving licence on the day of the accident. The renewal application for the driving licence was made on 22.05.2012. It was further contended that from the date of expiry of driving licence 16.04.2012 till 22.05.2012, the driver was not having a valid driving licence and that on the date of the accident 16.05.2012, the driver was not having a valid driving licence and cited provisions of Section 15 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 in support.
10. Let us see the provisions of Section 15 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
Section 15 (1) Renewal of Driving Licence: provided that in any case where the application for the renewal of a licence is made more than thirty days after the date of its expiry, the driving licence shall be renewed with effect from the date of its renewal: K.S.P A-18-116 Page 4 of 11
It is clear that this provision is applicable for Renewal of driving licence only.
11. In the present case provisions of Section 15 are not applicable, as the accident occurred within 30 days of the expiry of the driving licence. Therefore at the time of accident the driving licence of the driver was valid and the issue of renewal does not have any grounds for discussion.
12. The Ld. Counsel for the appellant referred to two citations:
(1) New India Assurance Co. Ltd. Vs. Suresh Chandra Aggarwal, (SC) Civil Appeal No. 44 of 2003:
The facts in this case was that on the date of the accident the driver was not holding a valid driving licence. The accident occurred on 20.02.1992 and the driving licence validity expired on 25th October, 1991, four months prior to the accident. The driving licence was renewed with effect from 23rd March, 1992. Section 15 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 refers to renewal conditions, that if an application is made within 30 days of the date of its expiry, the driving licence continues to be effective and valid without a break. However, where the application for renewal is made more than thirty days after the date of expiry, the driving licence shall be renewed from the date of its renewal.
This case referred to by the Ld. Counsel for the appellant does not hold ground because the facts of this case are different from the present complaint. In the cited case the accident occurred K.S.P A-18-116 Page 5 of 11 after four months from the expiry date of the validity of the driving licence and the application for renewal of the driving licence was made after 30 days of the accident. The Ld. Counsel for the appellant brought to note the relevant part from this citation which reads as follows: Whereas, when an application for renewal is filed after more than 30 days after the date of its expiry, proviso to sub- section (1) of Section 15 of the Act, gets attracted and the licence is renewed only with effect from the date of its renewal, meaning thereby that in the interregnum between the date of expiry of the licence and the date of its renewal, there is no effective licence in existence.
The above can be interpreted such that should an accident happen between the date of expiry of the licence and the date of its renewal which is after more then 30 days of expiry the insured will not have the right of claim from the insurance company as there is no effective licence in existence. However, if the accident takes place within 30 days of the expiry of the licence then even if the renewal of licence is after 30 days the insured has the right to claim.
The Ld. Counsel for appellant stressed on the above and stated that in the present complaint during the interim period from the date of expiry of the licence 16.04.2012 and the date of its renewal 22.05.2012 there is no effective licence in existence. The complainant admitted that the application for renewal was made on K.S.P A-18-116 Page 6 of 11 22.05.2012 after 30 days from the date of expiry. As per provisions of Section 14 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 a licence would be valid for 30 days from the expiry date which for the instant case can be counted from 16.04.2012 to 16.05.2012. The accident happened on 16.05.2012, and on this date the licence of the complainant's driver was thus valid. There was no valid licence of the complainant's driver from the period 17.05.2012 till the date of renewal that is 22.05.2012. The interim period between the date of expiry 17.05.2015 to 22.05.2012 does not come for discussion, as the accident in the instant case happened on 16.05.2012, before the period when there was no valid licence. In the present complaint, provisions of Section 15 related to conditions of renewal of licence are thus not applicable.
(2) National Insurance Co. Ltd. Vs. Sushil Jain, Revision Petition No. 567 of 2007 (NCDRC) MANU/CF/0373/2015:
In this case the facts are that the accident occurred on
13.06.2003, and the driving licence of the driver had expired on 30.03.2003, and was renewed much after 30 days grace period.
Here again the facts of the case are different then the present case. The driving licence had expired three months prior to the accident and renewal was done much after the 30 days grace period. In the present complaint the driving licence was valid for 30 days from the date of expiry and the accident has occurred within K.S.P A-18-116 Page 7 of 11 30 days. This case therefore does not support the facts of the present complaint.
13. To decide on this issue it is necessary to refer to Section 14 of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988. We deem it appropriate to reproduce the relevant part as follows:
Section 14: Currency of Licences to drive motor vehicles: Sub Section (2) (B) Clause (ii) reads as: provided that every driving licence shall, notwithstanding its expiry under this sub-section, continue to be effective for a period of thirty days from such expiry.
14. In the present case the driving licence of the complainant's driver was valid upto 16.04.2012. As per the aforesaid provision of Section 14, the driving licence of the driver would therefore be continuously valid for 30 more days which would be upto 16.05.2012. The accident occurred on 16.05.2012. Therefore according to Section 14 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 the driving licence of the driver was valid.
15. The counsel for the complainant submitted that the application of renewal of the driving licence was made 22.05.2012.
16. The complainant has also submitted a letter from the Motor Vehicle Prosecutors, Regional Office, Rajkot, which states that the driving licence of the driver was valid from 17.04.2009 to 16.04.2012. The validity of the licence would be for 30 days from the date of expiry which would be counted from 16.04.2012 to 16.05.2012. Therefore the licence is valid upto 16.05.2012. K.S.P A-18-116 Page 8 of 11
17. It is therefore clear that when the accident occurred on 16.05.2012, the driver of the complainant held a valid driving licence.
18. The Ld. Counsel submitted a citation. (i) Gujarat State CDRC in Appeal No. 78 of 2011, Sanghi Industries Ltd. Vs. The New India Assurance Co. Ltd., The facts in this case are that the driving licence of the driver of the complainant was valid upto 20.09.2007. The accident occurred on 13.10.2007, that is within the period of 30 days from the expiry date of 20.09.2007, and therefore as per Section 14 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 the driving licence was considered to be valid at the time of accident. The case was decided in favour of the complainant. This case supports the instant case of the complainant.
19. Having heard Ld. Counsel for the appellant and respondent and on basis of perusal of records it is clear that the accident occurred during the valid period of the insurance policy. The appellant had rejected the claim of the complainant on the ground that the driver of the complainant's truck did not have a valid driving licence. Provisions of Section 14 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 states that the driving licence is valid for 30 days from the date of expiry and therefore on the day of the accident, the driver had a valid driving licence. The Ld. Forum also has rightly relied on the provisions of Section 14 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and therefore repudiation of the claim by the appellant was found to be a K.S.P A-18-116 Page 9 of 11 deficiency of service. The Ld. Forum allowed Rs. 2,29,260/- as the loss as per the IRDA surveyors report submitted by the appellant. There is an error. As per the surveyors report the net amount was Rs. 2,29,260/- and the total payable amount would be Rs. 2,17,495/- after deduction of compulsory excess (single) Rs. 11,765/-. The surveyors report has not been controverted by the complainant. Further, the Ld. Forum has in its order directed the appellant to pay the loss to the complainant from the date of repudiation 15.11.2012 which should also be corrected. The total amount of loss payable to the complainant should be from the date of the filing of the compliant which is 12.12.2013. The Ld. Forum's order is modified to this extent.
FINAL ORDER
i) Appeal No. 116 of 2018 is partly allowed.
ii) The Appellant-Insurance Company do pay to the respondent loss of Rs. 2,17,495/- (Rupees two lakhs seventeen thousand four hundred ninety-five) at 9% interest (9 percent) from the date of compliant 12.12.2013.
iii) The Appellant-Insurance Company do pay to the respondent Rs.
5,000/- towards mental agony and harassment and Rs. 2,500/- towards legal costs.
iv) Registry is directed to pay the deposited amount, with accrued interest, if paid by the bank, on proper verification to the K.S.P A-18-116 Page 10 of 11 Appellant by account payee cheque and the cheque be handed over to the advocate for the Appellant after obtaining receipt.
v) Registry is directed to send a copy this order to the District Commission, Ahmedabad (Rural) through E-mail in PDF format for taking necessary action.
vi) Copy of the judgment be provided to the parties free of charge.
Pronounced in the open Court today on 22nd day of April, 2022.
(P. R. Shah) (S. N. Vakil)
Member Judicial Member
K.S.P A-18-116 Page 11 of 11