The Tagorehospital had erroneously ‘overcharged’ Rs.150 from over 90 patients for RT-PCRCovid test, which after Dc’s intervention were being refunded to them. Inaddition, the hospital management has also assured the district administrationto strictly adhere to the guidelines fixed by the state government with regardto fee charging for various services.
DeputyCommissioner Ghanshyam Thori had ordered a probe over a complaint filed by acitizen that Tagore Hospital had charged Rs 600 for Covid-19 tests however thestate government has fixed Rs. 450 for the same. After receiving the complaint,the DC had marked an inquiry to Public Grievance Officer Randeep Singh Gill,who summoned the management for further probe.
Mr. Thori saidthat during investigation, it surfaced that the hospital erroneouslyovercharged Rs. 150 from patients as sample collection charges, which it hadassured to refund to all patients who underwent RT-PCR tests after April 20,2021. The DC also added that during this period over 90 patients paid Rs. 600for the test, who would get a refund of the overcharged amount. Theadministration has also asked the hospital management to display governmentrates for the RT-PCR tests and other Covid-19 related services so that peoplewere aware about the government rates.
In another case,the district administration has written to police authority for legal actionagainst a private lab namely Ms. Atulya labs, which during administration'sinquiry was prima facie found to be overcharging for RT-PCR tests. The inquiryagainst the lab was conducted by the PGO Mr. Randeep Singh Gill, who in hispreliminary report stated that the lab was overcharging for Covid-19 testsagainst the fixed charges of Rs. 450 by the state government. The PGO addedthat during inspection some other discrepancies were noted in the lab includingno separate room for the vaccination and lack of bio-medical waste disposalmechanism.
DeputyCommissioner Ghansyam Thori reiterated his commitment to ensuring Covid-19related services at economical prices as fixed by the state government whilecategorically mentioning that any kind of complaint for overcharging andmalpractices would be dealt with a heavy hand.