Covid patient made to pay ₹24K for ambulance ride

It’s not only difficult to get tested for Covid-19 or find a hospital bed in the city, but also to avail a ride to a hospital.

It’s not only difficult to get tested for Covid-19 or find a hospital bed in the city, but also to avail a ride to a hospital.

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A 55-year-old Covid-positive woman from Worli Koliwada had to cough up ₹24,000 just to reach a hospital on May 9. She was first charged ₹12,000 for a ride from Worli to Powai and another ₹12,000 for a ride to go to Masina hospital in Byculla after she failed to get a bed in the Powai hospital.

Several other patients have also complained of similar fleecing by ambulance operators.

The son of the 55-year-old Covid-19 patient, said, “They [ambulance services] were very reluctant to reduce the charges and instead kept on increasing it. We had no other option and were compelled to agree to the charges. These people are taking advantage of the patients since there is no other option available during this lockdown.”

While the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has also included a free ambulance service for Covid patients on its helpline 1916, some complained that the ambulance was not made available despite calling on the helpline.

Another Covid-19 patient from Kurla had to take a loan to pay for the ambulance service. A 43-year-old male from Kurla was charged ₹13,000 by an ambulance service for a ride from Kurla to Kandivli.

He said, “After I was tested positive, I called up the BMC helpline and got a bed reserved at a Kandivli hospital. The BMC did not help me with an ambulance. I cannot afford to pay

such a huge amount and

had to take a loan of ₹13,000 to pay for the private ambulance service.”

BMC officials say that the citizens should get in touch with the local police station and local ward office during such emergencies. They said that control rooms in the local ward office are already helping people with ambulances and other such issues.

Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner (health), said, “Every citizen should have the contact details of local ward office and local police station. We have been promoting the local ward office control room’s number. Every administrative ward has at least three ambulances and by next week, we are getting an additional 250 ambulances which will increase the capacity of every ward.”

Mohommad Abid Khan, the spokesperson of a city-based private ambulance service BSIDEU, said, “We have doubled up the salaries of our drivers and helpers on the ambulance who are willing to work during the lockdown. The ambulance staff is also given a place to stay by our company and all such cost is paid by the company. Along with this, we are also paying for PPE kits and sanitisation of the ambulances on a daily basis. This is why the cost of the ambulance escalates.”

“Having said that, we continue to give free rides for cases that come through our NGOs and we also help the patient to find a bed in the hospitals,” he added.