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Charging ₹5.9 for carry bag costs CMCH Ludhiana dear
The complainant, Sunil Dutt of Civil Lines, said that his mother Shashi Bala had been hospitalised from April 20, 2019 to April 24, 2019. During the course of her treatment, the hospital had charged him and other family members ₹5.9 for a carry bag each time they purchased her medicines.
Charging ₹5.9 for a carry bag has cost Christian Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) dear, with the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission directing it to pay a compensation of ₹7,000 to the complainant.
The complainant, Sunil Dutt of Civil Lines, said that his mother Shashi Bala had been hospitalised from April 20, 2019 to April 24, 2019. During the course of her treatment, the hospital had charged him and other family members ₹5.9 for a carry bag each time they purchased her medicines.
Dutt said that he was not given the option of declining the carry bag and was charged for it without his consent. He said that he had objected to being charged for the carry bag, but to no avail.
Alleging unfair trade practice and deficiency in service, Dutt sought a refund of the cost of carry bag with compensation to the tune of ₹50,000 for undue harassment, mental agony and torture along with litigation expenses of ₹15,000. He also urged the commission to direct the hospital to provide environment friendly bags or paper bags to all its customers free of cost in future.
The hospital management, in a written statement, said the complaint was not filed within time and was false and frivolous. It denied the allegation that the customer was charged for the carry bag without being given an option to decline it.
It further stated that the carry bags are provided for the convenience of patients’ attendants for carrying medicines safely and are provided as and when asked for by attendants or patients. “It is the complainant who himself asked for the carry bags every time when he purchased the medicines because the hospital supplied the medicines in paper bags, which are free of cost,” it said.
The management said that the complaint had been filed to extract money from the hospital. It asserted that the patient had been treated well and discharged in a satisfactory condition.
Citing the National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission’s decision in Big Bazaar (Future Retail Ltd) vs Ashok Kumar, the commission said that the “consumer has a right to know before he exercises his choice to patronise a particular retail outlet, and before he makes his selection of goods for purchase, that additional cost will be charged for carry bags and also the right to know the salient specifications and price of the carry bags.”
The commission observed that it was not brought to the notice of the complainant by way of a prominent notice at the entrance or elsewhere at the medical store that he would have to pay the additional cost of the carry bag. Therefore, it amounted to unfair trade practice on the part of the hospital.
It also directed Christian Medical College and Hospital to return ₹59 to the complainant with 8% interest from the time of purchase.
