NHAI Sets 10-minute Deadline For Highway Ambulances, Rs 10,000 Penalty For Delay

New Delhi: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has changed its norms and set a 10-minute deadline for ambulances deployed on the highways to reach any accident site within a 10-km vicinity. The step has been taken to cut delays in emergency response during the “golden hour”. Failure to meet the timeline could attract a penalty of Rs 10,000 per incident.

NHAI, in its policy guidelines, said that ambulances should bring accident victims to the nearest hospital within one hour from the time of ticket acceptance on its app NHAI Care. Failure to meet the timeline will attract a penalty of Rs 10,000. For incident locations beyond 10 km, allowed time shall be proportionally increased and it will be verified through GPS data or Incident Management System dashboard.

NHAI has helpline number 1033 to report any problem. In case of emergency, people get guided through this helpline number to book an ambulance. A dedicated 24X7 team issues tickets for ambulances, cranes and patrol vehicles for quick response.

There are roughly 3,000 ambulances and 1,000 patrol vehicles and cranes equipped with GPS systems stationed on the national highways spread across 50,000 km. These vehicles also have a dedicated NHAI Care application which relays crash-location information to response vehicles and records the action taken and other data during emergencies.

Under the revised norms, a penalty of Rs 2,500 will be imposed if the NHAI Care app is unavailable in a vehicle for more than 1% of the time in a day. A similar penalty will apply if the vehicle’s GPS is not live.