The Motor Accidents Claims Tribunal, Chennai has rejected a plea by car rental firm Zoom Cars India Pvt Ltd that the person who availed the services bears the responsibility towards third party in event of any loss or damage as per its member agreement, in a road accident case. It said the member agreement has not been produced and held that the company, as the owner of the car, is liable to pay the compensation to the person injured in an accident.
In his petition, Kumar said that while he was walking along the GST Road at Tirusulam overbridge service road, a car hit him on May 31, 2017 and as a result he sustained injuries. . Zoom Cars India Pvt Ltd, owner of the vehicle and The New India Assurance Co. Ltd, its insurer, were named as respondents.
In its response, Zoom Cars said that it is engaged in the business of letting out cars to its customers for a short period of time. At the time of accident, the car was let out to Mr. Amritan Shu and the person who availed of the services of the rental car bears the responsibility towards third parties in the event of any loss or damage arising out of the use of the rental, it added and prayed for the petition against it to be dismissed.
Based on the FIR and other records, the tribunal ruled that the accident occurred due to the rash and negligent act of the driver of the car. It fixed a compensation of about ₹3.77 lakh and directed the insurance firm to pay the amount.
