Supreme Court Upholds Truck Fire Insurance Claim: National Permit Validity Clarified

The present dispute arose between Binod Kumar Singh and National Insurance Company Ltd when Binod kumar singh's truck caught fire and when the National Insurance Company is Wrongly denied claim for truck fire.

Binod Kumar Singh's truck, insured with National Insurance Company Ltd., caught fire due to a short circuit during the insurance period. Binod filed a claim with The State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission which initially ruled in favor of Singh, but the National Commission reversed this decision, which led to the Supreme Court appeal.

The Supreme Court reviewed the All India Permit (National Permit) and determined it to be valid and found that the authorization fee was only necessary when the truck was used outside of Bihar, where it was registered; the fire occurred within Bihar.

The Court observed that the following "8. This Court has carefully gone through the permit which is on record and the National Permit is certainly valid up to 13.10.2017. The authorization fee was required to be paid only when the truck was moving out of State of Bihar as it was registered in the State of Bihar and the truck caught fire on account of short-circuit on 08.06.2014 in the State of Bihar itself and, therefore, the respondent company could not have repudiated the claim on such a frivolous ground."

The Apex Court held that the insurance company was wrong in denying the claims of Binod which was based on the lack of an authorization fee within Bihar. Thus, the Supreme Court overturned the National Commission's order, instructing National Insurance Company to process Singh's claim within 60 days with 9% annual interest from the date of the initial complaint.

Coram: Justice B. V. Nagarathana and Justice Satish Chandra Sharma
Between: Shri Binod Kumar Singh vs National Insurance Company Ltd
Date of Judgment: 07-02-2025