Firm denied car's insurance claim due to fake driving licence

A consumer forum here has rejected the plea of a tourism firm seeking direction to an insurance company to pay the insured amount of its car, which met with an accident in 2010, on the ground that the driving licence of its driver was not valid.
The South Delhi Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, presided over by M C Mehra, passed the order on a plea filed by the tourism company.
The firm had sought a direction to the insurance company to pay Rs 90,017 as the its car was insured with it.
"The driving licence brought on record was found to be not a genuine one as no such driving licence was ever issued in his name (driver of the car at the time of accident) and, therefore, in such a situation, it is a violation of the terms and conditions of insurance policy, which shows that the person, who is driving the vehicle must hold an effective driving licence," the forum, also comprising members Anjum Parveen Alam and S R Agarwal, said.

The forum noted that as per the record of the licencing authority office, no driving licence was issued in favour of Narayan Haldar, who was driving the vehicle at the time of the accident.
The tourism company had told the forum that the car was insured with the insurance firm for a period from June 30, 2010 to June 29, 2011 for a depreciated value of Rs 4,19,574.

The vehicle met with the accident here on November 24, 2010, it said.
It said after the accident, it approached the insurance company for the claim, but the firm did not take any action.

In its plea before the consumer forum, the tourism company had also sought a compensation of Rs 80,000, besides Rs 20,000 as the cost of litigation.
The insurance company informed the forum that the driving licence of the man, who was driving the vehicle at the time of accident, was fake and therefore it did not pay the insured amount.