The Punjab and Haryana High Court has ruled that the notional income of a homemaker in motor accident compensation cases cannot be assessed solely on the basis of minimum wages payable to an unskilled labourer. The court emphasised that the assessment must account for the multifarious services rendered by a homemaker, including savings generated and invaluable emotional support provided to the family.
Court Enhances Compensation by Rs 14.79 Lakh
Justice Harkesh Manuja made the observations while allowing a batch of appeals arising from a motor vehicular accident that occurred in Karnal on April 11, 2022. The sole issue before the court was the quantum of compensation awarded by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal. The High Court reassessed the enhanced amount as Rs 14,79,284 in one of the matters.
Before the High Court, counsel for the appellants argued that the Tribunal assessed the victim's income based on minimum wages applicable to an unskilled labourer, despite unrebutted evidence that the victim was engaged in gainful occupations. It was submitted that the victim earned Rs 40,000 per month by working as a tailor and running a milk dairy.
Notional Income Assessment
Justice Manuja noted that the Tribunal had assessed the income of the deceased at Rs 9,803 per month on a notional basis due to lack of documentary evidence. The claimants claimed the victim earned Rs 40,000 per month, but no ledger accounts or income tax records were provided to substantiate the claim. As such, the claimed income could not be accepted at face value.
However, Justice Manuja held that the value of services rendered by the homemaker to the family could not be ignored while determining notional income. “The notional income of a housewife needs to be considered keeping in mind multifarious services rendered by her for the family; the expenses for cook service, maid servant service, housekeeping expenses and keeping in mind the savings accrued due to all these services,” Justice Manuja observed.
Emotional and Economic Contributions
The court added that the invaluable emotional support and contribution of a housewife to her husband, children and in-laws could not be assessed in monetary terms. Holding that these considerations were required, the court observed: “Thus, keeping in mind the considerations, notional income of the deceased as housewife-cum-seamstress could not be assessed less than Rs 15,000 per month against an accident which took place on April 11, 2022.”
The High Court further held that future prospects must be added to the notional income of a homemaker, following a Supreme Court judgment that claimants in cases involving the death of a housewife are entitled to such benefit.
Compensation Calculation
Applying Supreme Court principles, Justice Manuja held that the victim was 55 years old at the time of the accident. Her assessed income was liable to be enhanced by 10 per cent towards future prospects. The court also held that compensation under conventional heads required reassessment. The appellants-claimants were entitled to Rs 18,000 towards funeral expenses, Rs 18,000 towards loss of estate, and Rs 2.88 lakh towards parental consortium, calculated at Rs 48,000 each for six children. Allowing the appeals, Justice Manuja calculated the enhanced amount as Rs 14,79,284.
