Additional Rs 1 lakh financial aid for road accident victims

Bengaluru: The government has approved an additional Rs 1 lakh in financial assistance for road accident victims, which supplements the existing Rs 1.5 lakh cashless treatment benefit under the Centre’s Cashless Treatment Scheme for Road Accident Victims (CTRAV) 2025.

The decision followed a proposal from the Suvarna Arogya Suraksha Trust (SAST), which cited the state’s fifth position in the country in terms of accident-related fatalities. In Karnataka, around 40,000 accidents are recorded annually, resulting in about 11,000 deaths each year, it stated. According to the notification, the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH), under Section 162 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, has notified the CTRAV scheme 2025.

Under this scheme, free emergency medical treatment up to a limit of Rs 1.5 lakh per person is provided during the “golden hour” (first one hour) and for up to seven days after the accident. “While the Rs 1.5 lakh assistance under CTRAV is generally sufficient, there may be special cases—such as multiple organ failure, ventilator support, or critical care—where treatment beyond seven days becomes necessary,” it stated.

Under the revised state scheme, patients on ventilator support, those with multi-organ failure, or those requiring other critical care who continue treatment beyond the seven-day limit of CTRAV shall be eligible for the additional top-up of Rs 1 lakh under the state package. The order stated that if post-stabilization treatment is required in an unregistered hospital, the hospital must have NABH (National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers) or NQAS (National Quality Assurance Standards) accreditation or meet the state’s registration standards.

In such cases, reimbursement shall be limited to Rs 1 lakh as per SAST package rates.The scheme will be implemented within the existing budgetary allocation of the state without imposing any additional financial burden, it added.