Madras High Court Has Stayed Its Decision Till September 13

Madras High Court has stayed the order of implementation of bumper-to-bumper insurance policy till September 13.

The Madras High Court has stayed till September 13 its decision to make bumper-to-bumper insurance policy mandatory from September 1.

Earlier on August 26, the Madras High Court had ordered, “From September 1, a bumper-to-bumper policy will be mandatory on the sale of a new vehicle.

This policy with a term of five years should be in addition to the coverage of the driver, passenger, and the owner of the vehicle.

Justice S Vaidyanathan had said in his order that after this the owner of the vehicle, driver, passenger, third party and will become alert to protect their interests.

There will be no unnecessary liability on the owner of the vehicle under this policy.

The Madras High Court has given this order on the basis of a representation made by the General Insurance Council (GIC).

The General Insurance Council in its representation has said that non-life insurers are ready to comply with the order of the court.

GIC also said that they are merely distributors of products approved by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India, the sector’s regulator.

The council has also sought 90 days from the court for the necessary changes in the computer system to take effect after IRDAI’s approval.

The court on Wednesday included the Council and IRDAI among the necessary parties in the matter.

Apart from these, the court has appointed Additional Chief Secretary, Transport Department, Chennai and Joint Transport Commissioner (R), Chennai as the respondent.

The state government had issued a circular on August 31 ordering the vehicle registration offices to comply with the court’s decision on making the bumper-to-bumper policy mandatory for registration of new cars and two-wheelers.

The existing vehicle policy has two clauses – own damage (damage or theft of the vehicle) and third-party liability (third party liability).

Third-party insurance cover is mandatory, while vehicle damage insurance cover is not mandatory.