Compensation before a Motor Accident Claims Tribunal is computed, not awarded at large discretion: income is first determined (including addition for future prospects), a multiplier tied to the deceased or injured person's age is applied, and standard deductions are made for personal and living expenses before arriving at a final figure.
The Supreme Court's Constitution Bench decision in National Insurance Co. Ltd. v. Pranay Sethi standardised the addition for future prospects at 40% of income for persons below 40 years, 25% for those between 40 and 50, and 10% for those between 50 and 60, resolving inconsistent additions that different benches had been applying after Sarla Verma.
For self-employed and fixed-income earners without proof of periodic increments, Pranay Sethi held that future prospects should still be added on the same graded basis, correcting an earlier line of cases that denied the addition altogether to this category.
Tribunals continue to apply the multiplier table from Sarla Verma (as approved in Pranay Sethi) rather than recalculating a fresh multiplier in each case, which is the single most common point of disagreement in appeals from MACT awards.