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NHAI imposes Rs 10,000 fine for ambulance delays on highways
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has tightened norms for ambulances on national highways, imposing a Rs 10,000 penalty for failing to reach a crash site within 10 minutes or to…
The Story in Brief
The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has tightened norms for ambulances on national highways, imposing a Rs 10,000 penalty for failing to reach a crash site within 10 minutes or to take a victim to a hospital within the 'golden hour'. The new rules, announced on Wednesday, also penalise delays in accepting emergency tickets, Rs 5,000 for a one-minute delay and Rs 10,000 for rejecting a ticket. Ambulances have two minutes to start moving after accepting an alert, NDTV reports.
NHAI operates about 3,000 ambulances, 1,000 patrol vehicles and cranes across nearly 50,000 km of highways. All are equipped with GPS and the NHAI Care app. A Rs 2,500 penalty applies if the app is unavailable for over 1% of the day or if GPS isn't live. Officials say quick medical care can save 50% of lives. National highways accounted for 49,675 deaths in 2024, roughly a quarter of all road fatalities.
The Indian Opinion
Tough penalties sound good, but highway deaths hit nearly 50,000 last year. The real test is whether NHAI will actually collect these fines from its own contracted operators. GPS and app monitoring can be gamed. Will the helpline 1033 get enough calls to trigger response? The golden hour saves lives only if the clock is honestly watched.
Sources (2): ndtv.com, timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
