NHAI: A ₹5,000 fine for a one-minute delay—understand the minute-by-minute penalty structure on national highways.

NHAI Penalty Amount: Timely assistance is often unavailable following accidents on national highways. In response, the NHAI has implemented strict timeframes for ambulance and crane services, with heavy penalties imposed for delays.

NHAI Penalty Rules for Ambulance Services: When road accidents occur on national highways, the biggest challenge is often providing timely aid or transporting the injured to the hospital. Recognizing this need, the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has introduced new, stringent rules for emergency services. Under these regulations, ambulances, cranes, and other emergency services must reach the scene and take action within a stipulated timeframe. Failure to adhere to these limits can result in heavy fines.

The NHAI emphasizes that the initial minutes following an accident are critical for saving lives. Consequently, the monitoring of emergency services has been integrated into a digital platform to track any delays. Let us look at the details…

What are the new NHAI rules?

The use of the NHAI CARE/Incident Management System has been made mandatory across all highway projects. Once an emergency ticket regarding an accident is received, it must be accepted within one minute. A penalty of ₹5,000 will be imposed for every additional minute of delay beyond this one-minute limit.

Heavy fines for delays

Furthermore, once the ticket is accepted, the ambulance must be dispatched within two minutes. A penalty of ₹5,000 per minute will be levied for any delay in this process as well.

Enhanced monitoring through technology

All ambulances, cranes, and patrol vehicles are equipped with AIS-140 compliant GPS systems.
Vehicles are fitted with IoT SIMs and Android devices running the NHAI CARE app.
Incident managers will monitor the vehicles’ movements in real-time via tablets. A 24x7 central call center has also been established, providing access to helpline staff and doctors.

How ​​quickly must the ambulance arrive?

If an accident occurs within a 10-kilometer radius, the ambulance must reach the scene within 10 minutes. For greater distances, the time limit will be extended based on the distance involved. Failure to arrive within the stipulated timeframe will attract a penalty of ₹10,000. Under these new rules, it is mandatory to transport the victim to the hospital within one hour of the service request being accepted; consequently, any delay will result in an additional fine of ₹10,000.

Penalties for other violations

Rejecting an emergency service request will incur a penalty of ₹10,000 per instance.
Failure to use the app or comply with GPS regulations could lead to a daily fine of ₹2,500.
A penalty of up to ₹10,000 per inspection will be imposed if a shortage of equipment or staff is detected.

Why did the NHAI take this step?

According to the NHAI, response times to accidents were frequently delayed due to issues such as unreliable GPS units going offline and low app usage. To address this and minimize delays in road safety operations, this new technology-based monitoring system has been implemented.