Under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, causing death by a rash or negligent act is punishable under Section 106. Section 106(1) covers causing death by negligence generally. Section 106(2) deals with a driver who causes death by rash or negligent driving and then flees without reporting the incident, and prescribes a materially higher punishment — the provision that drew nationwide transporter protests.
| Current provision | Section 106, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 |
| Earlier provision | Section 304A, Indian Penal Code, 1860 — death by negligence, up to 2 years |
| Section 106(1) | Causing death by a rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide |
| Section 106(2) | Causing death by rash or negligent driving and escaping without reporting to a police officer or magistrate |
| Why it was controversial | The sharply higher punishment under 106(2) led to nationwide protests by transport operators in January 2024, after which the government said it would consult before bringing that sub-section into force |
| Duty to report | Both the Motor Vehicles Act and Section 106(2) require the driver to report the incident |
| Duty to assist | Section 134, Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 — secure medical attention for the injured |
| Good Samaritan protection | Section 134A, Motor Vehicles Act — a bystander who helps cannot be harassed or compelled to disclose identity |
| Compensation where the driver is untraced | Hit and Run Compensation Scheme under Section 161, Motor Vehicles Act |
| Separate civil claim | Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, with no upper limit on compensation |
What changed from the IPC to the BNS
Under the Indian Penal Code, death caused by a rash or negligent act was dealt with by Section 304A, which carried imprisonment of up to two years, or a fine, or both. It made no separate provision for a driver who left the scene.
The Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita replaced that with Section 106, and split it:
| IPC Section 304A | BNS Section 106 | |
|---|---|---|
| Death by negligence generally | Up to 2 years | Section 106(1) — a longer maximum term, with fine |
| Driver who flees without reporting | No separate provision | Section 106(2) — a materially higher punishment |
| Registered medical practitioner | No distinction | A separate, lower maximum where death is caused by a rash or negligent medical act |
The structural change is the second row. For the first time the law treated fleeing without reporting as a distinct and more serious thing than the negligence itself.
The date of the incident decides. An accident before the BNS came into force is prosecuted under Section 304A IPC; one after it, under Section 106 BNS. Older judgments on 304A remain relevant to what “rash or negligent” means, because that language was carried over.
Why it caused nationwide protests
In January 2024, transport operators and truck drivers across India struck work over Section 106(2). Fuel supply was disrupted in several states. It is worth understanding the argument, because it was not simply opposition to a tougher law.
The transporters' case had three parts:
- Drivers flee out of fear, not calculation. Crowds gather fast at accident scenes in India and violence against the driver is common. Many drivers leave to survive, not to escape prosecution.
- The punishment was disproportionate to an offence founded on negligence rather than intention, particularly for commercial drivers earning modest wages.
- The provision did not distinguish between a driver who vanished entirely and one who left the immediate scene and reported shortly afterwards.
The government's response was to announce that Section 106(2) would not be brought into force without consulting the All India Motor Transport Congress. The strike was called off on that basis.
Implementation status of this sub-section has been the subject of deferral and consultation, and may have moved since. This is one provision where a general guide is not a safe substitute for checking the current notification or asking an advocate about the specific case in hand.
What the law requires of a driver after an accident
Separate from the criminal provision, the Motor Vehicles Act imposes duties that exist regardless of fault.
- Stop and secure medical attention Section 134 of the Motor Vehicles Act requires the driver to take all reasonable steps to secure medical attention for the injured, unless prevented by mob fury or other circumstances beyond their control.
- Report to the police The incident must be reported to the nearest police station. Where it is unsafe to remain at the scene, go to the nearest station and report — that is compliance, not flight.
- Give information to the insurer Promptly, and in the manner the policy requires. Delayed intimation is a common reason for claim disputes.
- Produce documents on demand Driving licence, registration certificate, insurance and fitness certificate where applicable.
- Preserve what evidence you can Photographs of the scene and vehicle positions, the names of any witnesses, the time and precise location. In a contested Tribunal claim years later, this is often the only record that exists.
Compensation: two separate routes
A victim's family has two distinct avenues, and they are frequently confused.
Route one: the Hit and Run Compensation Scheme
Where the vehicle is never identified, Section 161 of the Motor Vehicles Act provides for compensation from a dedicated fund — a fixed sum for death and a lower fixed sum for grievous hurt. The amounts have been revised upwards over the years, so check the figure currently notified.
The application is made to the designated claims settlement authority in the district, with the FIR, the post-mortem or injury report, and proof of the claimant's relationship to the deceased.
Route two: the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal
Where the vehicle is identified, a full compensation claim lies before the Tribunal against the driver, the owner and the insurer. There is no statutory ceiling. Compensation is assessed on established principles — the deceased's income, age, number of dependants, future prospects, and conventional heads such as loss of consortium and funeral expenses.
| Section 161 scheme | Claims Tribunal | |
|---|---|---|
| Applies when | Vehicle untraced | Vehicle identified |
| Amount | Fixed statutory sum | Assessed on the facts, no ceiling |
| Who pays | A dedicated fund | The insurer, and in some cases the owner |
| Speed | Comparatively quick | Longer, often years |
| Forum | District claims settlement authority | Motor Accident Claims Tribunal |
A motorcyclist is killed on a highway near Nashik by a truck that does not stop. No registration number is recorded and the vehicle is never traced. The family claims under the Section 161 scheme and receives the notified fixed sum within a few months. Had a witness noted the registration number, the family would instead have filed before the Tribunal, where compensation assessed on the deceased's income and the ages of his dependants would very likely have been many times that figure. The difference between the two outcomes is one registration number.
What insurance covers, and what it does not
Insurance comes into a hit-and-run from several directions, and which cover responds depends on who is claiming and whether the vehicle was traced.
| Situation | Position |
|---|---|
| Victim injured, offending vehicle identified and insured | Third-party cover responds. Third-party liability insurance is compulsory, and for death or bodily injury it is unlimited in amount |
| Victim injured, offending vehicle never identified | The statutory hit-and-run compensation scheme, not any third-party policy |
| Victim's own vehicle damaged, offender untraced | Own-damage cover under a comprehensive policy may respond, subject to the policy terms, the deductible and the loss of no-claim bonus. A police report is ordinarily required |
| Victim's own vehicle, third-party-only policy, offender untraced | No cover for the vehicle damage. This is the gap that catches most people |
| Driver who fled, own injuries | Personal accident cover where held, subject to exclusions |
| Driving without a valid licence, or under the influence | Ordinarily a policy exclusion as between insurer and insured. The insurer may still have to satisfy a third-party award and then recover the amount from the insured |
An own-damage claim for a hit-and-run almost always requires the police report, and insurers decline claims where the incident was never reported to the police. The report costs nothing. Do it before going to the garage, not after.
How these cases are actually solved
A hit-and-run is an evidence problem before it is a legal one, and most of the evidence has a shelf life measured in days.
- CCTV, in the first 48 hours Private and municipal cameras overwrite on a cycle measured in days, sometimes less. The single most useful thing a family or a bystander can do is identify which shops, houses or junctions overlook the spot and ask in writing that the footage be preserved — then tell the investigating officer so it can be seized formally.
- Physical evidence at the scene Paint transfer, glass and plastic fragments, and the corresponding damage on the vehicle once it is traced. This is why the scene should be photographed before it is cleared, and why fragments should not be picked up and taken home.
- Toll, FASTag and fuel records A vehicle's passage through toll plazas places it on a route at a time, and is routinely used both to identify a suspect vehicle and to exclude one.
- Eyewitnesses, captured early A partial registration number from a bystander has solved a great many of these cases. Take phone numbers at the scene — not statements, contacts. Witnesses become unfindable within days.
- Dashcam footage Increasingly decisive, from the victim's vehicle or from any other vehicle that happened to be present. Save the file off the device; most dashcams loop and overwrite.
- Medical records The post-mortem or injury report establishes the nature of the injuries and their consistency with the impact alleged, and is central to both the prosecution and the compensation claim.
If one thing is taken from this page, make it this: footage preservation requests in the first two days decide a large share of hit-and-run cases. Everything else — the FIR, the claim, the trial — can be done in week three. The cameras cannot.
What to do in the first hour
- Medical help first Nothing else matters as much, and the Good Samaritan protections described above mean a bystander can act without exposure.
- Call 112 Police and ambulance — even if the vehicle has already gone.
- Record the scene before it is disturbed Photographs and a short video from several angles, including debris on the road and the final position of any vehicle. A timestamped phone is enough.
- Collect witness phone numbers Names and numbers, written down. This takes two minutes and is irreplaceable afterwards.
- Identify the cameras and ask for preservation in writing Look up. Note which premises overlook the spot, ask them in writing to preserve the footage, and tell the investigating officer.
- Make sure the FIR is registered, and get a copy The FIR number is the reference for the insurance claim, the Tribunal claim and the statutory compensation scheme alike. Without it, every one of those stalls.
- Start the compensation claim without waiting Do not hold it pending the investigation. Where the vehicle is untraced the statutory scheme applies and has its own time limits; where it is traced, the Tribunal claim can be filed straight away.
The law requires a driver involved in an accident to stop, take reasonable steps to secure medical attention for the injured, and report the accident to the police. Doing those three things is both the legal obligation and, on the record of decided cases, materially better for the driver — because leaving is precisely what converts an accident into the aggravated offence this page is about.
If you stop to help someone else's accident
A persistent reason bystanders in India do not help is fear of police questioning and hospital demands. The law addressed that directly.
Section 134A of the Motor Vehicles Act protects the Good Samaritan:
- No civil or criminal liability for any injury or death of the victim resulting from the help given, where it was provided in good faith and without expectation of reward
- No compulsion to disclose name, address or other personal details
- No harassment by police or hospital authorities
- Hospitals must provide immediate treatment and cannot insist on payment as a condition of starting it
These protections are backed by guidelines issued following Supreme Court directions. If you help someone and are nonetheless pressed for details or detained, say that you are a Good Samaritan under Section 134A — the term is recognised and it changes the conversation.
Most road deaths in India occur in the period immediately after the crash, before any treatment begins. The legal protections exist precisely so that the person standing nearest is not the person least likely to act.
Involved in an accident and unsure what the law requires of you?
NyayaMithra sets out the reporting duties, which provision applies on the facts, what a claim before the Tribunal involves, and what the compensation scheme provides where the vehicle is never traced.
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Frequently asked questions
What is the new hit and run law?
It is Section 106 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, which replaced Section 304A of the Indian Penal Code. Sub-section (1) covers causing death by a rash or negligent act. Sub-section (2) deals specifically with a driver who causes death by rash or negligent driving and then flees without reporting, and attracts a much higher punishment.
Why did drivers protest against it?
Because of the scale of the increase. The earlier provision carried up to two years; the new sub-section for fleeing carries substantially more, along with a fine. Transport bodies argued that drivers flee out of fear of mob violence at the scene rather than to evade the law, and that the provision punished that fear. Nationwide protests in January 2024 led the government to say the sub-section would not be brought into force without consulting the transporters' association.
Is Section 106(2) in force?
Its implementation was deferred following the January 2024 protests, pending consultation. Because the position has moved since and may move again, confirm the current status with an advocate or the latest government notification before relying on it either way — this is one provision where a general guide can go out of date quickly.
What should a driver do after an accident?
Stop. Secure medical attention for anyone injured — that duty is on the driver under the Motor Vehicles Act. Report the incident to the nearest police station. Note the location, time and any witnesses. Inform your insurer promptly. Leaving the scene converts what may be a negligence case into a far more serious one, and the flight itself becomes evidence.
What if the driver leaves because of a crowd?
Fear of mob violence is a real and documented phenomenon, and it was the heart of the transporters' objection. The lawful course is to leave the immediate scene if there is genuine danger and report to the nearest police station at once — that is reporting, not fleeing. What the provision targets is the failure to report at all.
Can the victim's family claim compensation if the vehicle is never found?
Yes. The Hit and Run Compensation Scheme under Section 161 of the Motor Vehicles Act provides fixed compensation in untraced-vehicle cases — a higher sum for death and a lower one for grievous hurt. The amounts have been revised over time, so check the current figures. Claims are made through the designated authority in the district.
Is this different from a Tribunal claim?
Yes, and the difference is large. The Section 161 scheme pays a fixed statutory sum where the vehicle is untraced. A claim before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal is a full compensation claim against the driver, owner and insurer, assessed on the deceased's income, age and dependants, with no statutory ceiling. Where the vehicle is identified, the Tribunal route is the substantial one.
Is a hit and run offence bailable?
Bailability turns on the specific provision charged and its classification in the schedule. Because the classification differs between the sub-sections of Section 106 and the position on 106(2) has been in flux, this is a question to put to an advocate on the specific FIR rather than to settle from a general guide.
Does insurance cover a hit and run?
The victim is covered: third-party insurance is compulsory, and where the offending vehicle is identified its insurer is liable before the Tribunal. Where the vehicle is never traced there is no insurer to proceed against, which is precisely the gap the Section 161 scheme exists to fill. For the driver's own vehicle damage, cover depends on the policy terms.
What protection does a bystander who helps have?
Section 134A of the Motor Vehicles Act protects Good Samaritans. A person who helps an accident victim in good faith cannot be held liable for any injury or death resulting, cannot be compelled to disclose their identity, and cannot be harassed by police or hospital staff. Hospitals must provide immediate treatment without insisting on payment first.
Does car insurance cover a hit and run?
It depends on who is claiming. A victim injured by an identified insured vehicle claims against its compulsory third-party cover, which for death or bodily injury is unlimited in amount. A victim whose own vehicle was damaged by an untraced offender may claim under own-damage cover on a comprehensive policy, subject to the terms, the deductible and the loss of no-claim bonus — and a police report is ordinarily required. A third-party-only policy gives no cover for your own vehicle's damage.
How is a hit-and-run driver traced?
Principally CCTV from premises overlooking the scene; physical evidence at the site such as paint and fragments matched to the vehicle once found; toll and FASTag records placing a vehicle on a route; eyewitness accounts including partial registration numbers; and dashcam footage. Camera footage overwrites within days, which is why preservation requests in the first 48 hours decide a large share of these cases.
How do I prove a hit and run for an insurance claim?
The police report is the foundation — insurers decline own-damage claims for incidents never reported. Alongside it: timestamped photographs of the scene and the damage, the surveyor's assessment, any CCTV or dashcam footage, and witness contact details. File the police report before taking the vehicle to a garage, not after.
How do I report a hit and run?
Call 112 for police and ambulance, even if the vehicle has gone. Get medical help first. Photograph the scene before it is cleared, take witness phone numbers, identify which premises overlook the spot and ask in writing for their footage to be preserved, and ensure an FIR is registered — then obtain a copy, because its number is the reference for every claim that follows.
Is the criminal case separate from the compensation claim?
Yes, and they proceed independently. The prosecution punishes the driver; the claim before the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal compensates the victim or family. The standards of proof differ, so an acquittal in the criminal case does not defeat a Tribunal claim.