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Compensating damage or loss is not always possible by providing cash to the victims. Some injuries are irreparable, and some losses are non-compensable. It is not possible to compensate for the loss of life caused by the carelessness of some agency or the irresponsibility of some authority. Nevertheless, there is a practice of paying some compensation to the immediate family members of any such victim. In many cases, governments in Bangladesh and many other countries of the world are accustomed to spending some money as compensation for persons who died or were injured in different accidents in factories or workplaces or some other incidents. Victims of road accidents are a new addition to the list in Bangladesh.
From now on, victims of road accidents will get a tiny amount of monetary compensation. Initially, some 162 road accident victims or their families will receive a total compensation of Tk 70.8 million. If a person is killed due to reckless or negligent driving on the road, his or her family is entitled to get Tk 0.50 million. Those who have lost a limb or suffered other forms of life-changing injuries will receive Tk 0.30 million each. Accident victims likely to recover and return to normal life are also eligible to receive Tk 0.10 million.
The compensation package and mechanism are being determined under the Road Transport Act-2018. However, it took five years for the authorities to devise the method where a 12-member trustee board is responsible for determining the compensation amount. To get compensation, the victims or their family members must apply to the board within 30 days of the accident. After receiving the applications, a probe committee will be formed in 10 days, and the committee has to submit its report within the next 30 days. Based on the report, the trustee board will decide whether to pay any compensation or not.
The Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) has also created a compensation fund. So far, the government hasn't contributed to the fund, and there is no provision in the budget in this regard. Currently, the authority collects subscriptions from the transport owners to issue and re-issue driving licences and route permits. Around Tk 1.0 billion has already been collected by the BRTA in this connection. A portion of money collected by the police and executive magistrates as a penalty under the road safety act is yet to be deposited to the fund. Again, neither the transport owners' nor the transport workers' associations pay any amount as their due contribution to the fund.
Thus, arranging and managing the compensation fund becomes a big challenge for the authorities. If the government and other stakeholders do not contribute adequately, the existing fund will dry up soon. It isn't easy to understand why the government is not contributing to the fund and asking the transport owners' and workers' associations to pay their dues.
An estimate showed that it required at least Tk 4.0 billion to compensate all the victims of road accidents that took place in the country last year. According to the BRTA, some 4,638 people died and 4,648 were injured due to road accidents last year. The current size of the fund is around Tk 1.50 billion, which is well short of paying the compensation to all. The authority may, however, think that all the victims will not seek compensation and there is also no assurance that all those who apply get compensation. This may happen because of ignorance on the part of deserving claimants or non-cooperation from the authority. So, organisations working for road safety and passengers' welfare need to step up and assist the victims and their families to claim the financial support. The authorities also need to extend adequate assistance in this regard.
Though the amount of compensation is paltry, as an introductory measure, it is welcome. The government, however, needs to review the whole thing after having feedbacks from different stakeholders and enhance the amount. Moreover, introduction of road accident insurance-coverage in the near future should be considered.