Sudhir Singh
Updated on June 14, 2026
If you or someone near you is in a road accident in India, this scheme matters. PM Rahat gives every road accident victim free cashless medical treatment up to Rs 1.5 lakh for 7 days from the date of the accident. It does not matter whether you are an Indian citizen or a foreigner, whether the accident happened on a national highway or a city street, or whether the vehicle that hit you was insured or not.
PM Modi approved and launched the scheme on February 14, 2026, as his first decision after shifting to the new PMO building Seva Teerth.
What PM Rahat Stands For
PM RAHAT: Prime Minister’s Road Accident Victim Hospitalisation and Assured Treatment.
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) runs it. The National Health Authority (NHA) is the operational agency. Payments to hospitals go through the Motor Vehicle Accident Fund (MVAF).
What the Scheme Covers
Every victim of a road accident on any road in India gets cashless treatment up to Rs 1.5 lakh. The 7-day window starts from the date of the accident.
Coverage includes serious trauma injuries and polytrauma, the scheme specifically targets the golden hour, the first 60 minutes after an accident when treatment saves the most lives.
Treatment is cashless. The hospital cannot ask you for an upfront deposit or advance payment. You get treated first. The hospital claims reimbursement from the government later.
If the vehicle that caused the accident was insured, the insurance company pays through the MVAF. If the vehicle was uninsured or a hit-and-run, the central government pays from its budgetary allocation. Either way, the victim does not pay.
Which Hospitals Provide This Treatment?
Over 30,000 hospitals empanelled under Ayushman Bharat: PM Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) across India are part of this scheme.
To find the nearest empanelled hospital quickly, you or anyone at the accident scene can dial 112. The Emergency Response Support System (ERSS) 112 helpline gives you the nearest designated hospital and calls an ambulance.
Do not waste time at a non-empanelled private hospital for this scheme. Go to the nearest AB-PMJAY empanelled hospital to access the cashless benefit.
What to Do at the Accident Scene
Call 112 immediately. This connects to police, ambulance, and emergency services together.
If you are a bystander helping the victim, the scheme has a provision for you. Good Samaritans who help accident victims reach hospitals are called Rah-Veers under this scheme. A Rah-Veer gets Rs 25,000 as recognition for helping.
The police must be informed about the accident within 24 hours. This is a condition for the hospital to claim reimbursement. In non-life-threatening cases, police verification happens within 24 hours. In life-threatening cases, it happens within 48 hours.
If you are helping a victim and worried about legal hassle, the Good Samaritan law in India protects bystanders who help accident victims. You cannot be detained or harassed for helping.
Registration and Documentation
There is no pre-registration for PM Rahat. It is automatic for anyone involved in a road accident in India. The accident must be reported to police, and the victim must reach an empanelled hospital.
At the hospital, you show:
You do not fill any online form at the time of the accident. The hospital handles the claim process. Your job is to get to an empanelled hospital and make sure police know about the accident.
What the Scheme Does Not Cover
Treatment beyond 7 days: After 7 days, further treatment costs become the patient’s or insurer’s responsibility. If you have a health insurance policy, that kicks in from day 8 onwards. If not, you bear the cost.
Accidents not on public roads: Private property accidents are not covered.
Accidents caused by the victim while drunk driving: There is no explicit exclusion in the official scheme text for this yet, but claims in such cases may face scrutiny during police verification.
Pre-existing conditions unrelated to the accident: PM Rahat covers accident trauma treatment. If you have a pre-existing condition that the doctors also treat during the same hospitalisation, that portion may not get covered.
How This Is Different from Previous Schemes
Before PM Rahat, India had the Motor Vehicles Act provisions and some state-level schemes for accident victims, but no single nationwide cashless scheme. The pilot ran in Chandigarh and Assam from March 2024. MoRTH expanded it across India in May 2025 as an unnamed scheme. The February 2026 launch under the PM Rahat name made it official and national.
The key difference from earlier arrangements: the Rs 1.5 lakh cashless treatment is available to all accident victims regardless of whether they have health insurance. Earlier, only AB-PMJAY beneficiaries (the poorest 40 crore Indians) had similar cashless access at empanelled hospitals.
Practical Limitations to Know
The 7-day and Rs 1.5 lakh limit is not enough for severe injuries. A spinal injury or brain trauma with ICU stay will cost significantly more than Rs 1.5 lakh beyond 7 days. PM Rahat buys you immediate stabilisation, not complete treatment coverage. After 7 days, the family needs to arrange funds or use other insurance.
Rural and remote areas still have gaps. The 30,000 empanelled hospitals are not evenly distributed. Accidents on remote state highways may be far from any empanelled hospital. 112 will route you to the nearest one, but transport time matters.
Save This Number
112: All emergencies in India including road accidents. This connects police, ambulance, and ERSS. For PM Rahat treatment, dialling 112 is the fastest way to reach an empanelled hospital.
You can also check your nearest AB-PMJAY empanelled hospital at hospitals.pmjay.gov.in.
📩 If you notice any incorrect data in this guide or wish to share additional information, please write to us at info@indiansouls.in.
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