Time frame set for preferring COVID-19 ex-gratia claims

Collector asks people to take notice of the Supreme Court order and submit their claims within the time

The administration has set a time-frame for making COVID-related ex-gratia claims on the basis of a new directive from the Supreme Court.

In a press statement, Collector E. Vallavan stated that the Supreme Court had in its order in March fixed the outer time limit to curtail the process of receiving the claims going endless and the possibility of receiving false claims. The apex court had fixed 60 days from March 24 as the limit to file the claims for compensation in case the death that occurred due to COVID-19 was prior to March 20 and 90 days for future deaths due to COVID-19 to file the claim.

The Union Territory has been providing ₹50,000 as ex-gratia to the kin of victims of COVID-19 on the basis of a 2021 apex court order and the guidelines framed by the National Disaster Management Authority, Ministry of Home Affairs. So far, ex-gratia payment has been made for 1,898 cases till March 31 in the Union Territory.

The latest directive of the Supreme Court allows for cases of extreme hardship where if any claimant could not make an application within the time prescribed, it will be open for the claimant to approach the Grievance Redressal Committee and make the claim through the Committee. The committee would examine the claim on a case to case basis.

The Collector appealed to the public to take notice of the Supreme Court order and submit their claims within the time frame fixed by the apex court. It should also be noted that making false claim for COVID-19 death ex-gratia and obtaining any relief on that basis is a punishable offence under section 52 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, the Collector said.