₹1.65 lakh refunded to 33 patients after TMC sends notice to 4 hospitals

The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has sent notices to four privately-run hospitals for overcharging Covid-19 patients. A total of ₹1.65 lakh was refunded to

The Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has sent notices to four privately-run hospitals for overcharging Covid-19 patients. A total of ₹1.65 lakh was refunded to 33 patients.

HT Image

Sandeep Malvi, deputy municipal commissioner of TMC, said, “Four hospitals have collectively refunded ₹1.65 lakh to 33 patients over the last couple of days. One hospital has refunded ₹1,20,625 to nine patients, followed by ₹23, 250 refunded by another hospital.”

Last week, TMC cancelled the registration and Covid license of one private hospital for overcharging. The civic body also sent notices to around 15 hospitals, also for overcharging, and demanded refunds for patients.

On May 21, the Maharashtra government had passed a notification that capped treatment costs for Covid-19. TMC set up an audit committee on July 18 to look into complaints of overcharging. “In our audit we found that 40% to 48% of bills from each private hospital was more than the rates fixed by the government. From July 10-20, an additional amount of ₹27 lakh was overcharged from patients in various hospitals while ₹30 lakh was overcharged between July 20-25,” said an officer from the committee.

Complaints of overcharging have also been filed to the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC), which on June 25 set up a flying squad. So far, it has received six complaints, of which one has been resolved with the complainant receiving a refund. The remaining cases are under investigation. As of July 23, KDMC has also appointed auditors at each privately-run Covid hospital.

However, the Alert Citizens Forum (Jagruk Nagrik Manch) of Kalyan has asked KDMC to audit hospital bills from May 21 onwards. “The civic body has recently initiated the audit of bills from private hospitals although the notification was passed on May 21. We have come across several patients’ bills which are not as per the rates mentioned by the state. The civic body should do an audit of all the hospitals from May 21,” said Sreeniwas Ghanekar, founder of the forum.

KDMC commissioner Vijay Suryavanshi said, “We have already appointed auditors for the 24 hospitals that treat Covid-19 patients. They will keep checking bills and helping patients. We cannot take up the audit for previous bills altogether now. What we can do is if there is a complaint on previous bills, we can get it audited.”