Answer Book question
You are protected, and the treatment is paid. Good Samaritan rules under the Motor Vehicles Act and the Supreme Court's 2016 guidelines mean you cannot be compelled to disclose your identity, cannot be detained at the hospital or by police, and cannot be made to pay. Since 5 May 2025 every road-accident victim in India is entitled to cashless treatment up to ₹1.5 lakh for the first seven days at a designated hospital, paid from the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund, and even a non-designated hospital must stabilise the patient and will be reimbursed for that. Call 112; the operator routes to the nearest designated hospital. The scheme is being carried forward as PM RAHAT with the same ₹1.5 lakh support you may qualify for.
You are protected, and the treatment is paid. Good Samaritan rules under the Motor Vehicles Act and the Supreme Court's 2016 guidelines mean you cannot be compelled to disclose your identity, cannot be detained at the hospital or by police, and cannot be made to pay. 5 lakh for the first seven days at a designated hospital, paid from the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund, and even a non-designated hospital must stabilise the patient and will be reimbursed for that.
Call 112; the operator routes to the nearest designated hospital. 5 lakh support you may qualify for.
A scooter rider is hit on the Adoor bypass at 9 pm. A passer-by drives him to the nearest private hospital. The casualty desk asks the rescuer for his name and an advance. Neither is required. The hospital must stabilise the patient; it claims the cost from the scheme; the rescuer may leave once the patient is admitted, having given only what he chooses.
Section 134A of the Motor Vehicles Act (2019 amendment) and the Central Motor Vehicles (Good Samaritan) Rules protect a person who in good faith renders emergency help from civil or criminal liability, allow them to decline to disclose identity, and bar hospitals and police from detaining or pressuring them; the Supreme Court's 2016 order in SaveLIFE Foundation gave these force earlier.
Section 162 requires a cashless treatment scheme in the golden hour; after the Supreme Court's January 2025 direction in S. 5 lakh per victim for up to seven days from the accident, at hospitals designated under the scheme (largely PM-JAY empanelled trauma-capable hospitals), implemented by the National Health Authority through State Health Agencies, with claims on a portal and payment to hospitals within ten days; victims brought to a non-designated hospital get stabilisation covered.
Any amount paid under the scheme is adjusted against hit-and-run compensation (Parents 5) or a Tribunal award. The Centre has announced PM RAHAT to continue the scheme nationally with a reward for Good Samaritans ('Rahveer'). Kerala's State Health Agency administers the claims here.
Call 112 first; the call log is itself the record of the golden hour Whether the hospital is designated under the scheme (the 112 operator and the hospital's Ayushman desk will know) Do not sign anything as 'guarantor' of payment; you are a rescuer If the police ask for a statement, you may give it by choice, once, and need not appear repeatedly under the Good Samaritan rules For the victim's family: the scheme claim is made by the hospital, not by them; ask for the claim reference
Driving past because of fear of the hospital and the police. The law was changed precisely to remove that fear. Also: families paying the first-week bill in cash at a designated hospital that should have billed the scheme.
Kerala's road death rate is among the highest per vehicle in India, and its private-hospital density means most accidents reach a PM-JAY empanelled hospital quickly. The State Health Agency's KASP network is the designated set; ask the hospital's insurance desk to file under the road-accident scheme, not under KASP whether you may qualify, since the scheme has no income test.
Victim treated six days, bill ₹1.9 lakh at a designated hospital: ₹1.5 lakh paid by the scheme; ₹40,000 by the family or the victim's insurer; if the vehicle is identified, recoverable at the Tribunal. Rescuer's outlay: nil.
The scheme covers motor-vehicle accidents on roads, not other injuries. Treatment beyond seven days or ₹1.5 lakh is on the patient or their insurance. A hospital that refuses to stabilise is acting unlawfully; note the time and names.
Save 112 as the first call; then the nearest designated hospital Tell the casualty desk the patient is a road-accident victim under the cashless scheme Families: obtain the claim reference and the discharge summary; then pursue hit-and-run or Tribunal compensation
A family member was hit by a vehicle that drove away. Is there any compensation? Do I need personal accident insurance? (Vol 1)
Health, disability & life events
Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, Sections 134A and 162; Central Motor Vehicles (Good Samaritan) Rules · Cashless Treatment of Road Accident Victims Scheme, 2025 (in force 5 May 2025); PM RAHAT announcement, 2026 · Supreme Court, SaveLIFE Foundation (2016) and S. Rajaseekaran (2025) Last checked: 22 August 2026. Rates, limits and whether you may qualify change. Confirm with the official source before you act. Ask Kerala Rising: Use only general, non-identifying facts.
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This page is general orientation, not personal insurance, investment, medical, legal, lending, tax, employment, or professional advice. Rules, rates, deadlines, and decisions can change. Confirm the current position with the named official source and use a licensed or qualified professional where your situation requires one. Kerala Rising does not decide whether you may qualify, approve claims, or promise an outcome.