JUDGMENT : Mansoor Ahmad Mir, J. This appeal is directed against award dated 14th December, 2009, made by the Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Una, Himachal Pradesh (hereinafter referred to as “the Tribunal”) in MAC Petition No. 6 of 2008, titled Smt. Sudesh Kumari versus Sh. Kapil Gautam & others, whereby compensation to the tune of Rs.2,25,000/- with interest @ 9% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till its realization, was awarded in favour of the claimants and against the respondents (for short, “the impugned award”). 2. The insurer, insured-owner and driver have not questioned the impugned award, on any count. Thus, it has attained finality, so far it relates to them. 3. The claimants have questioned the impugned award on the ground of adequacy of compensation. 4. The only dispute in this appeal is whether the amount awarded is inadequate. The answer is in the affirmative for the following reasons. 5. Admittedly, the deceased was 26 years of age at the time of accident, was a driver by profession. 6. The claimants in the claim petition have pleaded that the monthly income of the deceased was Rs. 8,000/- per month at the relevant time. 7. The claimants have examined PW-5, employer of the deceased, who has stated that the deceased was earning Rs.8,000/- per month, but unfortunately, the Tribunal has fallen in an error in granting compensation to the tune of Rs. 2,25,000/- in lump sum to the claimants, without making any assessment and calculation. 8. Keeping in view the facts of the case, I deem it proper to hold that the deceased was not earning less than Rs. 6,000/- per month. 9. The deceased was a bachelor and 50% is to be deducted towards his personal expenses while keeping in view the ratio laid down by the Apex Court in Sarla Verma (Smt.) and others versus Delhi Transport Corporation and another, reported in AIR 2009 SC 3104 , upheld by a larger Bench of the Apex Court in a case titled as Reshma Kumari & others versus Madan Mohan and another, reported in 2013 AIR (SCW) 3120. Accordingly, it is held that the claimants have lost source of dependency to the tune of Rs. 3,000/- per month. 10. Accordingly, it is held that the claimants have lost source of dependency to the tune of Rs. 3,000/- per month. 10. The multiplier of ‘17’ is applicable in this case, as per the 2nd Schedule appended to the Motor Vehicles Act read with the ratio laid down by the Apex Court in Sarla Verma’s, Reshma Kumari’s and Munna Lal Jain’s, cases, supra read with the judgment rendered by the Apex Court in case titled as Munna Lal Jain & another versus Vipin Kumar Sharma & others, reported in 2015 AIR SCW 3105. 11. Viewed thus, the claimants are held entitled to the amount of Rs. 3,000/- x 12 x 17 = Rs. 6,12,000/-, under the head ‘loss of dependency’. 12. Keeping in view the recent judgments of the Apex Court, a sum of Rs.10,000/- each, is also awarded under the heads ‘loss of love and affection’, ‘loss of estate’ and ‘funeral expenses’, in favour of the claimants. 13. The Tribunal has also fallen in an error in awarding interest @ 9% per annum, which was to be awarded as per the prevailing rates. 14. It is a beaten law of the land that the rate of interest should be awarded as per the prevailing rates, in view of the judgments rendered by the Apex Court in cases titled as United India Insurance Co. Ltd. and others versus Patricia Jean Mahajan and others, reported in (2002) 6 SCC 281 ; Santosh Devi versus National Insurance Company Ltd. and others, reported in 2012 AIR SCW 2892; Amrit Bhanu Shali and others versus National Insurance Company Limited and others, reported in (2012) 11 SCC 738 ; Smt. Savita versu versus Binder Singh & others s others, reported in 2014 AIR SCW 2053; Kalpanaraj & others versus Tamil Nadu State Transport Corpn., reported in 2014 AIR SCW 2982; Amresh Kumari versus Niranjan Lal Jagdish Pd. Jain and others, reported in (2015) 4 SCC 433 ; and Mohinder Kaur and others versus Hira Nand Sindhi (Ghoriwala) and another, reported in (2015) 4 SCC 434 , and discussed by this Court in a batch of FAOs, FAO No. 256 of 2010, titled as Oriental Insurance Company versus Smt. Indiro and others, being the lead case, decided on 19.06.2015. 15. 15. Having said so, I deem it proper to reduce the rate of interest from 9% per annum to 7.5% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till its realization. 16. Accordingly, the claimants are held entitled to total compensation to the tune of Rs.6,12,000/- + Rs.30,000/- = Rs.6,42,000/- with interest at the rate of 7.5% per annum from the date of filing of the claim petition till its realization. 17. The amount of compensation is enhanced and the impugned award is modified, as indicated above. The appeal is accordingly disposed of. 18. The insurer is directed to deposit the enhanced amount alongwith interest, within a period of eight weeks from today before the Registry. On deposit, the Registry is directed to release the entire amount in favour of the claimants, strictly in terms of conditions contained in the impugned award, through payees account cheque or by depositing the same in their accounts. 19. Send down the records after placing a copy of the judgment on the Tribunal's file.