IN THE HIGH COURT OF UTTARANCHAL AT NAINITAL Appeal From Order No. 87 of 2007 1- Shrimati Usha Rawat w/o Late Sri Kuber Singh age 52 years 2- Somender Singh s/o Late Sri Kuber Singh age 23 years 3- Ajender Singh s/o Late Sri Kuber Singh age 22 years All R/o Village & Post Chilikiya, P.S. & Tehsil Ramnagar, District Nainital ... Appellants Vs 1- Sri Surender Singh S/o Sri Sardar Singh R/o Durgapur Colony, Jaspur Khurd Kashipur District Udham Singh Nagar 2- The New India Assurance Company L.T.D. through its Divisional Manager Hotel Kumaun Plaza, Divisional Office Bajpur Road Kashipur District Udham Singh Nagar ... Respondents Sri A.K. Sah, learned counsel for the appellants Sri M.K. Goyal, learned counsel for respondent no. 2 Dated: March 13, 2008 Hon’ble B.C. Kandpal, J. This appeal, under Section 173 of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, has been preferred against the judgment and award dated 18.10.2006 passed by Motor Accident Claims Tribunal/District Judge, Nainital, in M.A.C.P. No. 63 of 2006, Shrimati Usha Rawat & others vs. Sri Surender Singh & others. Brief facts giving rise to this appeal are that on 5.3.2006 at about 5.3.2006, when the deceased- Kuber Singh Rawat, along his friend-Anand Singh, was coming from Ramnagar through his scooter No. UP 29C/1449, a Truck bearing Registration No. UP- 04A/0365 dashed with scooter from behind, on account of which Kuber Singh Rawat died on the spot itself. The claimants have pleaded that the deceased used to earn Rs. 8000/- per month from agricultural work, at the time of accident. Therefore, the claimants have prayed for award of compensation of Rs. 8,50,000/-. The owner of offending truck neither contested his case nor filed his written statement, hence, an order dated 7.7.2006 was passed to proceed exparte against the owner of offending truck. The insurer-New India Assurance Co. Ltd. filed its written statement refuting the contents made in the claim petition. It has took additional plea that driver of offending truck was not having valid driving licence at the time of accident, therefore, the driver of offending truck violated the terms of insurance policy. It also alleged that at the time of accident the driver of scoter was also not having the valid driving licence. The alleged accident occurred due to rash and negligence on the part of driver of scooter himself. It also took the plea that the petition is bad for non-joinder of registered owner and insurer of scooter and therefore the same deserves to be dismissed. The Tribunal framed relevant issues on the basis of pleadings adduced by the parties and accordingly allowed the claim petition for a sum of Rs. 1,00,000/- along with interest @ 6% per annum from the date of filing the claim petition till final payment of compensation, against the Insurance Company. Feeling aggrieved by the aforesaid award, the appellants/claimants has preferred this appeal before this Court for enhancement of compensation. Heard A. K. Sah, learned counsel for the appellants, Sri M.K. Goyal, learned counsel for respondent no. 2/Insurance Company and perused the record. Learned counsel for the appellants/claimants has submitted that the learned Tribunal failed to appreciate the fact that the deceased was a very successful man and he used to earn at least Rs. 8000/- per month by running private passenger buses and through other business like building houses on contract. He has also submitted that the learned Tribunal applied a multiplied of only 8 on notional income whereas even a labourer earns Rs. 100/- per day. He has also disputed the compensation awarded by the Tribunal @ 6% per annum. I have gone through the impugned award and have considered the arguments of learned counsel for the parties. It is true that the notional income for the non-earning member was fixed in IInd schedule inserted to Section 163-A of Motor Vehicles Act by Act No. 54 of 1994 w.e.f. 14.11.1994. The accident has taken place in the year 2006. After a lapse of more than 12 years certainly there has been considerable price hike and the notional income taken by the Tribunal should be enhanced. The Division Bench of this Court in A.O. No. 2 of 2005, Shobhan Singh and another vs. New India Insurance Company and another, decided on 1.11.2006, has enhanced the notional income from Rs. 15,000/- to Rs. 36,000/- due to hike in the price index. The Tribunal has taken the notional income of the deceased at Rs. 15,000/-, as the claimants could not establish the monthly income of the deceased. As stated above, looking to the price hike and applying the ration of the above cited case of the Division Bench of this Court, the notional income in the case of the deceased should be enhanced to Rs. 36,000/-. After deducting 1/3rd towards personal expenses, the annual dependency of the claimants comes to Rs. 24,000/-. In the present case, the deceased was 55 years of age. In IInd Schedule appended to Section 163-A of Motor Vehicles Act, the multiplier between the age group of 55 to 60 years, has been given as ‘8’. Therefore, the multiplier of 8 has been correctly adopted by the Tribunal keeping in view the age of the deceased. In this way, the total dependency of the claimants comes to Rs. 24,000 x 8 = 1,92,000/-. In view of above, the appeal is partly allowed. The impugned award is modified to the extent that the claimants are entitled to get a compensation of Rs. 1,92,000/-(Rupees One Lac Ninety Two Thousand Only) towards loss of dependency, along with the interest as indicated in the impugned award. Rest of the amount of a total sum of Rs. 20,000/-, which has been awarded by the Tribunal under other different heads, is confirmed. All the pending applications stand disposed of accordingly. (B.C. Kandpal, J.) SP