Now Reading: Maharashtra panel fines Bhatia Hospital for holding newborn over bill
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Maharashtra panel fines Bhatia Hospital for holding newborn over bill
The Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ordered Bhatia Hospital in Mumbai to pay about Rs 38,080 to a father after holding his two-day-old newborn for more than nine hours over…
The Story in Brief
The Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has ordered Bhatia Hospital in Mumbai to pay about Rs 38,080 to a father after holding his two-day-old newborn for more than nine hours over a billing dispute. The amount includes a refund and nine years of interest. The commission said a patient cannot be detained for an unpaid bill, especially when the bill was lower than the deposit and the father had agreed to pay within 24 hours.
The case arose in February 2017, after Rajesh Dharap’s wife delivered twin boys. The hospital said discharge was delayed by insurance queries and rejected cashless approval. The commission partly allowed Dharap’s complaint and found deficiency in service.
The Indian Opinion
The easy claim that every hospital billing delay is deliberate is as weak as treating insurance approval as a licence to hold a patient. Hospitals need a workable process for disputed payments, but that process cannot override a newborn’s discharge, particularly when the deposit covers the bill. The useful test is simple: did the hospital offer discharge against a written undertaking or adequate security, and how long did it take to do so?
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
