Thirty-two-year-old Mohiuddin Mal, a shared driver, died when an overloaded truck overturned and rammed into his car in Wari area of ​​the capital on November 8 last year.

His family was pushed into a desperate situation as he was the sole breadwinner of their family of four in Dhaka, which includes two school-going children. To survive, his wife now works as a domestic help.

The family members have asked the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) for compensation from the relevant fund. They have also filed a case at the Wari Police Station against the truck driver.

A year has passed, but the family has not received any compensation, let alone justice.

“Their (Mohiuddin’s family) world has been turned upside down. I don’t know how their children’s education expenses will be managed if they don’t get any assistance,” said Mohiuddin’s brother-in-law Helal Uddin, who is helping the family now.

Mohiuddin’s family is one of more than 1,300 families awaiting compensation from the government fund after submitting claims. Thousands more don’t even know the fund.

Most road accident families are dealing with the emotional and financial consequences of losing their loved ones, many of whom were the sole breadwinners. In some cases, the victims themselves stop working because of life-altering injuries, including the loss of limbs.

With no compensation in sight, they face an uncertain and bleak future, struggling to make ends meet and rebuild their lives.

In view of the situation, the previous government under a law took the initiative in January last year to provide compensation to road accident victims or their family members and a fund was also established.

However, only 592 road accident victims or their families out of 1,940 who submitted claims have received compensation by November 12 this year.

On the other hand, a total of 22,855 were either killed or injured in 10,515 road accidents between January last year and November 12 this year, according to BRTA data. All should be compensated.

Only Tk 26.35 crore was spent on compensation, though Tk 225.43 crore was still available till October 21, according to BRTA.

According to various non-governmental organizations, the number of victims of road accidents is much higher, so the percentage of obtaining compensation would be much lower.

Meanwhile, police had arrested the truck driver who killed Mohiuddin, but he was released on bail within days. Police have yet to file a charge sheet in the case. The truck owner even managed to get his vehicle back from police custody, Helal said.

Getting justice in a road accident case is very rare in Bangladesh, although Mohiuddin’s family still believes he would be in the right.

In this context, today the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims is celebrated.

The day, initiated by the British charity RoadPeace in 1993 and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 2005, is celebrated on the third Sunday of every November as a fitting recognition of road accident victims and their families.

BRTA will organize an exchange of views meeting at its headquarters to mark the day.

COMPENSATION

Thousands of people lose their lives in road accidents every year, while many suffer life-changing injuries. However, compensation was a rare concept in the country until the Road Transport Act came into force in 2018.

Under the Motor Vehicles Ordinance 1983, which was repealed after the Road Transport Act came into force in November 2019, victims or their family members could claim compensation at the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal for death, injury and damage property caused in accidents.

In rare cases, victims petition the High Court to seek compensation.

Under the Road Transport Act 2018, the government has formed a board and established a fund to compensate road accident victims. This initiative was taken in January 2023 after the formulation of the rules of the act.

However, the compensation of the victims started last October.

According to the rules, the family of a person killed in a road accident should get compensation of at least Tk 5 lakh. Those who lose a limb or suffer other forms of life-changing injuries get Tk 3 lakh each, while victims who are likely to recover from their injuries and return to normal life get Tk 1 lakh each.

By November 12 this year, the board had received 1,940 claims for compensation. Of these, 1,835 have been sent to the standing inquiry committee for investigation and the committee has so far given reports on 654 applications, according to BRTA.

But the authority handed over 592 checks (in connection with 501 deaths and 91 injuries) involving Tk 26.35 crore.

According to the rules, those seeking compensation will have to fill a form and send it to the chairman of the board within one month of the road accident with some details.

The president will form a commission of inquiry within 10 days of receiving the request, and the commission will submit a report on the damage within a month, the regulation reads.

The council will take action to compensate a victim within 30 working days of receiving the report.

But Helal, brother-in-law of victim Mohiuddin, said they have not received compensation even 11 months after filing the claim.

“BRTA has written to Mohiuddin’s village address asking us to go to his office. But we got the letter five days after the date of appearing before BRTA. Then I contacted BRTA and submitted more documents about six-seven months back but didn’t. get any answer,” Helal said.

BRTA officials said there is a six-member standing inquiry committee headed by the UN (of the concerned upazila) to probe the accident, but delay in submission of reports from the committee is the main reason behind the delay in disposing of the claims.

“There is a bureaucratic tangle here, which is causing the delay,” said a BRTA official on condition of anonymity.

Responding to another question, he said many people were not aware of the process for obtaining compensation, while many were discouraged from making claims because of the “relatively technical and lengthy process”.

“The process should be made easier so that victims benefit from the initiative.”

BRTA chairman Mohammed Yasin and head of the board did not respond to our phone calls and messages.