MCDs have collected fee, must provide cashless treatment to retired employees, says HC

The Delhi high court on Wednesday criticised the three municipal corporations of Delhi for not providing cashless medical services to their retired employees despite charging a subscription fee from them for the same

The Delhi high court on Wednesday criticised the three municipal corporations of Delhi for not providing cashless medical services to their retired employees despite charging a subscription fee from them for the same.

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A bench of chief justice DN Patel and justice Jyoti Singh expressed their disappointment with the three municipal bodies -- south, north and east -- while noting that retired employees of the corporations had pending medical bills. The court asked how a fee could be charged if the corporations do not have a tie-up with the hospitals for cashless treatment.

It also queried about the employees not getting their pension for a long time and issued a notice to the three municipal corporations, directing them to file an affidavit with all details in this regard.

The court’s order came on a plea by Akhil Dilli Prathmik Shikshak Sangh, through advocate Ranjit Sharma, which contended that despite retired employees having deposited the premium, the corporations are yet to extend to them the cashless medical facility.

During the hearing, the counsel for the petitioner said the retired employees have not got their pension from June 2020. Advocate Namrata Mukim, counsel for East Delhi Municipal Corporation (EDMC), said there has been a delay in reimbursing the premiums due to paucity of funds.

To this, the court said, “You are taking ₹39,000 as subscription and you are not giving them treatment. You are obligated to provide them the medical facility. There is a legal obligation on your part after taking the money. They are not asking for heaven and sky. It is your responsibility to provide them facilities.”

“This is the administrative difficulty with the MCD and hospital. They are not foreigners, they were your employees. You have no option but to give the money,” the court further said.

The court also issued notice on the petition and posted the matter for further hearing to January 22.

The plea had said during the pandemic, a large number of retired employees who did not receive pension on time had to face extreme hardships in arranging money for their treatment as the hospitals did not provide cashless treatment.