10 Minutes To Reach Crash Site: New Rules For Highway Ambulances

The new norms give ambulances two minutes to start moving after accepting an emergency alert and an hour to get an accident victim to the nearest hospital. Delays can attract penalties of up to Rs 10,000 per incident.

12 Aug 2026, 16:36 · NDTV

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Ambulances on National Highways must reach accidents within 10 minutes if within 10 km radius
Emergency alert acceptance must happen in under one minute under new NHAI rules
Penalties up to Rs 10,000 apply for delayed response or ambulance movement

What happens if an ambulance fails to reach the hospital within an hour?
New Delhi:

Ambulances deployed on National Highways will now be expected to reach an accident site within 10 minutes if the crash is within a 10-kilometre radius, under new rules issued by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), to cut delays in emergency response.

The rules put almost every stage of an ambulance's response on the clock: an emergency alert must be accepted in less than a minute, the ambulance must start moving within two minutes, and the accident victim should reach the nearest hospital within an hour of the alert being accepted.

Failure to meet key timelines can attract penalties of up to Rs 10,000 per incident.

The tighter norms come after delays in responding to road accidents were flagged by the Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety as well as in a performance audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), according to the NHAI circular.

Under the new service-level benchmarks, a delay beyond a minute to respond can result in a penalty of Rs 5,000 for every additional minute or part of a minute.

The same Rs 5,000-per-minute penalty can apply for a delay if the ambulance does not start moving within two minutes.

The ambulance should then take no more than 10 minutes from the time of ticket acceptance to reach an accident located within a 10-km radius.

For crashes farther than 10 km away, the permitted response time will increase proportionately. The journey will be tracked using GPS data and the NHAI Care Dashboard.

Missing the prescribed accident-site response time can attract a Rs 10,000 penalty per incident.

Emergency tickets cannot be rejected either. An on-road unit that rejects one faces a Rs 10,000 penalty for each incident.

Failure to meet the one-hour target to reach the hospital can lead to a Rs 10,000 penalty per incident, with compliance verified through GPS and NHAI Care app data.

The one-hour requirement puts the focus on the crucial period immediately after a serious road accident, often referred to as the "Golden Hour".

Why NHAI Tightened The Rules

The circular points to gaps in the way the existing emergency-response system has been functioning.

NHAI said use of its Care Dashboard and mobile application had not reached the desired level, resulting in delayed responses in accident cases. It also identified poor GPS uptime and emergency units not remaining online on the Care app as major bottlenecks.

Negligence by contractors and concessionaires in responding to such incidents could endanger the lives of accident victims, the highway authority said.

NHAI has now made the use of its Incident Management System Care System mandatory for all on-road units deployed on its projects, irrespective of the project mode.

Ambulances To Be Tracked In Real Time

Ambulances, cranes and patrolling vehicles deployed on NHAI projects have been fitted with AIS-140-compliant GPS devices.

On-road teams have also been provided Android devices with IoT SIMs and the NHAI Care app, which relays accident-location information and records the action taken during an emergency.

Incident Managers have tablets linked to the Care Dashboard, allowing vehicles and accident response to be monitored in real time. NHAI has also set up a 24x7 central call centre, with eight helpline executives in each shift and a doctor to assist in triaging incidents.

Going offline will carry a cost.

Non-use of the Care app by an on-road unit or Incident Manager can attract a penalty of Rs 2,500 per day. The same daily penalty applies if the required GPS system is unavailable or an ambulance is not visible on the Care Dashboard.

NHAI has also prescribed a Rs 10,000 penalty per inspection if an ambulance is found without the required equipment, medicines or personnel such as a driver or Emergency Medical Technician.

Each ambulance will have to conduct a daily dry run or mock drill of at least 5 km, unless it has already attended an accident and travelled more than 5 km that day.

Penalties To Be Calculated Automatically

The penalties will be computed automatically through the NHAI Care System and deducted from payments due to ambulance service providers or project-maintenance agencies.

The maximum penalty under the new provisions has been capped at Rs 2.5 lakh per month.

NHAI has also made it clear that an ambulance may have to respond beyond its own project jurisdiction if an accident occurs on an adjoining National Highway stretch and no ambulance is available there at the time.

The measures fit into NHAI's broader Zero Fatality Attainment push on National Highways. The authority has identified 1,083 High Fatality Zones across 77 National Highways, covering 6,948 critical spots, with its road-safety plan including engineering measures, enforcement and improvements in trauma care and emergency response.

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