Bhubaneswar: The state govt has asked police to remain vigilant against potential fraud in the implementation of the PM RAHAT (road accident hospitalisation and assured treatment) scheme. The initiative entitles every road accident victim, irrespective of category, to cashless treatment of up to Rs 1.5 lakh for seven days from the date of the accident.In a circular issued on April 7, the state crime branch directed SPs and DCPs to closely monitor claims and prevent misuse. It emphasized that timely police action on the govt’s electronic detailed accident report (e-DAR) database is crucial both to enable treatment and to curb fraud. “Officers are required to generate victim IDs and verify hospital requests by approving, rejecting, or transferring them through the e-DAR platform,” the circular said.The letter further instructed each SP to designate a district-level PM RAHAT fraud control focal point to review suspicious cases and coordinate with hospitals. The crime branch has warned of red flags such as staged or fake accidents, inconsistent details of time and location, repeated admissions of the same person, multiple victims with identical accounts lacking corroboration, delayed reporting, cross-district claims with weak jurisdictional basis and unusual clusters of high-value cases from specific police stations.“Any suspected organized fraud must be reported promptly to the crime branch without delaying genuine victim care. Responses on e-DAR should be provided within stipulated timelines based on prima facie assessment, with detailed investigation to follow as required,” the order said.To strengthen safeguards, the crime branch has prepared a standard operating procedure outlining minimum authentication standards. Officers must verify accident and hospitalisation times, location and jurisdiction, motor vehicle involvement and victim identity to prevent duplication. They are also expected to ensure consistency across hospital records, police control room logs, FIRs, unnatural death entries and spot findings, corroborating with CCTV footage wherever available. The order directed police to enter all available details promptly on e-DAR, with pending information updated later as per procedure. It also stressed the importance of secure handling of login credentials and supervisory checks to prevent misuse or unauthorized approvals.
