The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) on Wednesday said the time limit for filing claims for compensation for Covid-19 deaths that occurred before March 20 would be two months, while for future such deaths it would be three months.

The NDMA announced this in the wake of a Supreme Court order issued on March 24. Sixty days will be the outer time limit to file claims for compensation for deaths due to Covid-19 prior to March 20, 2022.

For future deaths, 90 days’ time shall be provided from the date of death to file the claim for compensation, the NDMA said in a public notice.

The earlier order to process the claims and make the actual payment of compensation within a period of 30 days from the date of receipt of the claim shall continue to be enforced.

If a claimant fails to apply within the prescribed window because of extreme hardship, he or she will be able to make a claim through the Grievance Redressal Committee and it will be considered on a case-to-case basis.

The NDMA said if it was found by the committee that a particular claimant could not make the claim within the stipulated time for reasons beyond his or her control, the case might be considered on merit.

In a bid to minimise the risk of fake claims, a random scrutiny of 5 per cent of the claim applications shall be made at the first instance.

If it is found that anyone has made a fake claim, the same shall be considered under Section 52 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and the person will be liable to be punished accordingly, the NDMA said.

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