Three private hospitals in Panchkula that accepted the allegations of overcharging Covid patients have refunded ₹21 lakh to the complainants in the presence of deputy commissioner Vinay Pratap Singh.
The cheques were handed over by representatives of Paras Hospital, Alchemist Hospital and Wings Hospital to Covid patients and their family members on Tuesday.
Singh said that now, the entire due amount has been settled. While Paras Hospital refunded ₹12,91,092 for 13 patients, Alchemist Hospital and Wings Hospital refunded ₹6,39,347 and ₹1,77,654 to five and three patients, respectively.
The families had met Haryana Vidhan Sabha Speaker Gian Chand Gupta and complained of inflated bills. Taking cognisance of the complaints, Gupta had directed the district administration to constitute a committee to conduct an inquiry. It was headed by additional deputy commissioner (ADC) Mohd Imran Raza.
Singh said that initially, notices were served to the hospitals and their reply was sought. Then, they were given a personal hearing, where they accepted to overcharging in certain cases. The DC said that he had directed all such private hospitals to refund the excess amount charged by them to the complainants at the earliest.
Hospitals told to self audit
{{/usCountry}}Hospitals told to self audit
{{/usCountry}}However, Singh said that much more needs to be done in this direction. He also directed the three private hospitals to conduct a self-audit of bills and inform patients or their family members about the refund admissible to them, if any, through phone or email.
“I have issued a notice, in which they have been directed to complete self-audit of bills between April 1 and May 15 by July 31. A review meeting will be held after 30 days,” he said.
He said that anyone with complaints of overcharging can report it to the ADC’s office on panchkulaadc@gmail.com.