Tamil Nadu Lorry owners’ plea to reduce third party insurance

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Lorry Owners’ Association has moved the Madras High Court for a directive to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDA) to substantially reduce the third party insurance premium for commercial vehicles.Justice T Raja, before whom the petition came up last week, ordered notice to the authorities concerned returnable by four weeks.

According to petitioner, the third party insurance premium for goods carriages has been increased by 1,117 per cent in the past 15 years, whereas the premium for private cars and two-wheelers has been substantially reduced by the IRDA. Owners of goods carriages are made to pay higher premium year after year, the association said.

The third party insurance is mandatory under the Motor Vehicles Act for all motor vehicles. The premium for such insurance has been steeply increased in the past 15 years. The premium was increased by 70 per cent in 2002. It was increased by 69 per cent again in 2007. It has been further increased between 14 to 30 per cent in 2017, the petitioner contended.