West Bengal Consumer Commission Orders Hospital to Refund Rs 2 Lakh Over Wrong ICCU Billing
· India · Indian Express, Times of India
The West Bengal State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ordered Ispat Cooperative Hospital to refund Rs 2 lakh to patient Anindya Chakraborty after finding it charged him for an ICCU bed while he was kept in a general ward during a May 2021 hospital stay. The commission, presided by Justice Bibhas Ranjan De with member Mridula Roy, also directed the hospital to pay Rs 50,000 in compensation and Rs 25,000 in litigation costs, calling the mismatch between discharge records and the final invoice an unfair trade practice. Chakraborty had alleged that the hospital also refused to honour his valid Swasthya Sathi Card during his five/six-day admission for Covid-19 treatment. The state commission overturned a March 28, 2024 order by the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission at Baruipur that had rejected the complaint. The hospital had argued that Chakraborty produced no documentary evidence of a formal protest over the Swasthya Sathi Card denial.
Why it matters
The ruling sets a consumer court precedent against empanelled hospitals inflating bills and denying state health scheme benefits, giving Swasthya Sathi cardholders in West Bengal a legal lever to challenge wrongful ICCU charges and denial of cashless treatment.
Read the original report — Indian Express
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