Public Liability Insurance Act, 1991

           With the growth of hazardous industries, risks from accidents processes and operations, not only to the persons employed in such undertakings but also to the public who may be in vicinity, have increased. The people who are affected by accidents in the hazardous installations are, very often, economically weaker sections and suffer great hardships because of delayed relief and compensation. While the workers and employees of hazardous installations are protected under separate laws, members of the public are not assured of any relief except through long legal process. To ameliorate the sufferings of members of the public due to accidents which take place in hazardous installations it was found essential to provide for mandatory Public Liability Insurance. To achieve this objective the Public Liability Insurance Bill was introduced in the Parliament.

The Public Liability Insurance Act 1991 is in consonance with the spirit of principle 13[1] of the Rio Declaration, in as much as it aims at providing for public liability insurance for the purpose of providing immediate relief to persons affected by accident occurring while handling any hazardous substance or matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.