Why road accident death figures differ in govt reports, Gadkari tells Rajya Sabha

The government has clarified the discrepancy in India's official road accident death figures found across multiple government reports. According to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), the variance stems from differing reporting methodologies employed by various states and Union territories. The ministry is collaborating with relevant entities to enhance reporting quality and consistency.

In 2024, official sources reported 177,175 road accident fatalities. However, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) recorded 175,142 deaths in its "Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India" report, while "Crime in India" logged 162,500 deaths under "deaths due to negligence relating to road accident."

Responding to a query from RJD MP Manoj Jha, Transportation Minister Nitin Gadkari attributed the differences to varying methodologies used by states and UTs. These methodologies range from reporting via police departments and State Crime Records Bureaus to the nature of reporting itself. The NCRB's dataset is more restrictive, recording only those accidents that fall under specific penal law provisions of the Indian Penal Code or Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The Crime in India report's narrower coverage arises from its reliance on IPC or BNS registrations, which excludes accidents without penal violations, leading to lower figures. The government asserts that not every road mishap involves penal law breaches, contributing to the disparity.

To address this, a unified national road-crash database has been established via the Electronic Detailed Accident Report (eDAR) portal. This centralized repository, integrating VAHAN, Sarathi, PM Gati Shakti, NHAI’s Data Lake, and the National Health Authority’s Transaction Management System, receives and validates data from police, transport, health departments, road-owning agencies, and insurance companies.