No Insurance No Fuel rules may soon become stricter for vehicle owners as IRDAI works on a pilot project to check motor insurance status at petrol pumps.
The system will use Automatic Number Plate Recognition technology to identify vehicles and verify their insurance details.
The pilot project is currently being tested in selected cities. If implemented on a wider scale, petrol pumps could check whether a vehicle has valid third-party motor insurance before allowing it to refuel.
How Insurance Checks May Work
Under the proposed system, ANPR cameras at petrol pumps can scan the number plate of a vehicle entering the premises.
The vehicle number can then be matched with insurance records to check whether valid third-party motor insurance is available.
The system is expected to use information from the Insurance Information Bureau and vehicle records maintained through VAHAN.
This could allow the insurance status of a vehicle to be checked without requiring the owner to manually show policy documents.
Petrol and Diesel Supply Could Be Affected
If the pilot project is successful and the system is expanded, petrol pumps could introduce insurance verification before refuelling vehicles.
A provision could also be introduced to deny petrol or diesel to vehicles that do not have valid third-party motor insurance.
However, the current initiative is a pilot project, so a wider implementation would depend on the outcome of the testing and subsequent decisions.
The proposed system is aimed at identifying vehicles without mandatory third-party insurance and encouraging owners to maintain valid coverage.
Why the Insurance Check Is Being Tested
The initiative follows an August 4 Supreme Court directive under which IRDAI, along with the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, was asked to develop a pilot project linking valid vehicle insurance with fuel supply.
The objective includes testing whether fuel stations can help identify uninsured vehicles and encourage vehicle owners to obtain the required third-party motor insurance.
According to data presented before the Supreme Court, India had 304.8 million registered vehicles, of which 165.4 million did not have valid insurance. This accounted for about 56% of the registered vehicles.
No Insurance No Fuel implementation beyond the pilot stage will depend on the results of the project and further decisions by the concerned authorities.
