Panel to probe overcharging plaints

Ghaziabad: A day after UP finance minister Suresh Khanna visited Ghaziabad, the district administration on Wednesday made municipal commissioner Mahendra Singh Tanwar the head of a committee to investigate complaints of overcharging by private hospitals during the peak of the pandemic.
The administration has so far received complaints against nine private hospitals in the district for alleged overbilling, despite the government capping rates for Covid-19 treatment.
“The administration has been receiving complaints of overcharging by private hospitals, despite the government fixing an upper limit for Covid treatment costs,” said Tanwar. “The government has taken the issue seriously and the four-member panel will investigate the complaints and submit a report in 15 days.” The daily treatment charges fixed by the state government is Rs 10,000 for all NABH-accredited hospitals for moderate sickness, which include Rs 1,200 as PPE kit cost. For severe sickness, Rs 15,000 daily charge has been fixed, which includes Rs 2,000 for PPE kits. For ‘very severe sickness’, Rs 18,000 has been fixed.
For non-NABH accredited hospitals, the daily charge for moderate sickness has been fixed at Rs 8,000, including Rs 1,200 for PPE kit.
For severe and very severe sickness, the charges are Rs 13,000 and Rs 15,000, respectively.
The government has also created A, B and C categories in which a city belongs. Ghaziabad and Noida are listed under A category cities. There are 12 cities in B category and the remaining are listed under C category.
Earlier, the administration had fined and even recommended suspension of licences of some private hospitals after it was found that they were indulging in malpractices.
“As a part of our effort to clamp down on private hospitals we had formed a panel which imposed fines on five private hospitals after they were found to be putting up ‘no vacancy’ notice. However, it was found during inspections that the beds were actually available” said an official.