PM RAHAT-CASHLESS TREATMENT OF ROAD ACCIDENT VICTIMS

1. At a Glance

PM-RAHAT (Prime Minister – Road Accident Victims' Hospitalisation and Assured Treatment) is a statutory cashless treatment scheme for victims of motor-vehicle road accidents, operationalising Section 162 of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (as amended in 2019). [S1][S2]
Provides up to ₹1.5 lakh per victim for 7 days from accident date, on any category of road, executed by the National Health Authority (NHA) via Ayushman Bharat-empanelled hospitals. [S1][S2]
UPSC relevance: convergence of road safety, health financing, statutory welfare and digital governance (eDAR + TMS 2.0). [S1]

Launched by the Prime Minister on 13 February 2026; PIB clarification dated 11 March 2026 detailed the scheme architecture in Parliament-style Q&A. [S1][S2]
Follows a pilot programme earlier piloted by MoRTH (Chandigarh, then 6 states) before pan-India statutory rollout. [S2]

Section 162, inserted via the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, mandates a scheme for cashless treatment of road accident victims during the "golden hour" and for hit-and-run compensation. [S1]
Pilot for cashless treatment rolled out by MoRTH from March 2024 (Chandigarh) and extended to 6 states. [S2]
Notification S.O. 952(E) dated 19.02.2026 named the scheme PM-RAHAT. [S1]
Notification S.O. 2015(E) dated 05.05.2025 notified the scheme; S.O. 2489(E) dated 04.06.2025 issued SOP and stakeholder guidelines. [S1]
Launched nationwide 13.02.2026. [S1][S2]

Parent Ministry: Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH). [S1]
Implementing/Nodal Agency: National Health Authority (NHA) — same body that runs AB PM-JAY. [S2]
Statutory Base: Section 162, Motor Vehicles Act 1988 (post-2019 amendment). [S1]
Cover: ₹1.5 lakh per victim, maximum 7 days from date of accident. [S1][S2]
Stabilisation care: 24 hours (non-life-threatening) / 48 hours (life-threatening), subject to police response. [S1][S2]
Eligibility: Any victim of a road accident caused by use of a motor vehicle on any road. [S2]
Designated hospitals: All AB PM-JAY empanelled hospitals deemed automatic; 36,112 hospitals empanelled as on 09.03.2026. [S1][S2]
Funding pool: Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (MVAF) — Sec.164B MV Act; financed by general insurance companies' contributions for insured-vehicle cases and budgetary support for uninsured/hit-and-run cases. [S2]
Digital backbone: eDAR (Electronic Detailed Accident Report, police) + TMS 2.0 (NHA Transaction Management System, hospitals). [S1][S2]
Precedence: Scheme overrides other Central/State schemes for the victim's road-accident treatment. [S2]

Legal/Constitutional: Operationalises a long-pending statutory duty under Sec.162 MV Act (idle since 2019); aligns with Article 21 (right to emergency medical care – Parmanand Katara v. UoI, 1989). [S1]
Administrative: Inter-ministerial convergence — MoRTH (policy), NHA/MoHFW (hospitals & payments), MHA/State police (eDAR FIR trigger), General Insurance Council (MVAF). [S1][S2]
Social/Equity: Removes the upfront-payment barrier disproportionately faced by poor & informal-sector accident victims; golden-hour care reduces fatality. [S2]
Economic: India loses ~3% of GDP to road crashes (WHO/MoRTH estimates); MVAF spreads cost across insurance pool rather than the victim's family. [S2]
Technological: End-to-end paperless workflow linking FIR (eDAR) to claim (TMS 2.0); cashless model — hospital paid directly. [S1][S2]
Governance: Statutory scheme means justiciable entitlement, not discretionary welfare; SOP via S.O. 2489(E) 2025. [S1]

05.05.2025: Scheme notified via S.O. 2015(E). [S1]
04.06.2025: SOP & guidelines issued via S.O. 2489(E). [S1]
19.02.2026: Officially named PM-RAHAT via S.O. 952(E). [S1]
13.02.2026: National launch by Prime Minister. [S1][S2]
March 2026: MoRTH stakeholder sensitisation sessions across states. [S2]

PM-RAHAT is notified under Section 162 of the MV Act 1988. [S1]
Cover ceiling: ₹1.5 lakh per victim, max 7 days. [S1]
Stabilisation window: 24 hrs (non-LT) / 48 hrs (LT). [S1]
Nodal implementing agency: National Health Authority (NHA) — not MoRTH directly. [S2]
Parent ministry: Ministry of Road Transport & Highways. [S1]
Funded via the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (MVAF). [S2]
Digital platforms used: eDAR + TMS 2.0. [S1][S2]
Hospitals empanelled: 36,112 (as on 09.03.2026) — same pool as AB PM-JAY. [S1][S2]
Launched by PM on 13 February 2026. [S1][S2]
Naming notification: S.O. 952(E) dated 19.02.2026. [S1]
Applicable on any category of road (NH, SH, rural, urban). [S1][S2]
Scheme overrides other Central/State schemes for the same treatment. [S2]
Insurance contribution into MVAF comes from general insurance companies. [S2]

GS-II: Government policies & interventions for development in various sectors (welfare scheme design); Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector/Services relating to Health.
GS-III: Infrastructure: roads; Disaster management (road-crash emergencies).
Possible question stems:
"Discuss how PM-RAHAT operationalises Section 162 of the MV Act 1988 and addresses the 'golden hour' gap in India's road-safety response." (GS-II/III, 15 marks)
"Cashless treatment of road accident victims requires seamless convergence between police, health and insurance ecosystems. Examine in the light of PM-RAHAT." (GS-II, 10 marks)
"Examine the role of the National Health Authority beyond Ayushman Bharat in delivering statutory healthcare entitlements." (GS-II, 10 marks)

Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019 — parent statute; Sections 161 (hit-and-run), 162 (cashless), 164B (MVAF).
Ayushman Bharat PM-JAY & NHA — shares hospital network and TMS platform.
Good Samaritan Guidelines, 2016 (MoRTH) + Parmanand Katara v. UoI (1989) — golden-hour jurisprudence.
Bharat NCAP & Road Safety policy — preventive arm; PM-RAHAT is curative.
National Road Safety Board (Sec.215B MV Act).
WHO Decade of Action for Road Safety 2021-2030 & Brasilia Declaration — India is signatory.
Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (Sec.164B) — finance mechanism.
eDAR / iRAD — digital accident-reporting backbone (MoRTH + IIT-Madras).

Wrong nodal agency — it is NHA (under MoHFW) that runs payments, while MoRTH is parent; aspirants often write MoRTH alone. [S1][S2]
Cover confusion — it is ₹1.5 lakh / 7 days, not the ₹5 lakh AB PM-JAY ceiling. [S1]
Scope — covers any road & any motor-vehicle accident victim, not just NH or insured-vehicle victims. [S1][S2]
Statutory vs. scheme — PM-RAHAT is a statutory scheme under Sec.162, not a Cabinet-approved discretionary one; entitlement is justiciable. [S1]
Funding source — MVAF, not Consolidated Fund or AB PM-JAY corpus. [S2]
Hit-and-run compensation (Sec.161) is a separate scheme — don't conflate with PM-RAHAT's treatment cover. [S1]

[S1] PM RAHAT – Cashless Treatment of Road Accident Victims — https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2238637 — (tier 1)
[S2] Government Launches "PM RAHAT" – Cashless Treatment of Road Accident Victims — https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=2228172 — (tier 1)