CIC imposes penalty on DGHS in Artemis Hospital licensing case

New Delhi: The Central Information Commission (CIC) has urged the Delhi government to halt the practice of ex post facto renewal of licenses for private hospitals, calling for a state-specific amendment to bring such entities under the purview of the Right to Information (RTI) Act.

The recommendation came after a hearing related to an RTI application filed by Sanjeev Kumar, who had alleged that Artemis Hospital in Delhi had issued exorbitant medical bills for his wife’s treatment in 2023.

Information Commissioner Vinod Kumar Tiwari made these observations while hearing the case of an RTI applicant who was allegedly given "exorbitant bills" by a private hospital for the treatment of his wife in 2023.

RTI Applicant Kumar, who had sought details about the license issued to Artemis Hospital from the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), did not receive satisfactory responses and escalated the matter to the CIC.

The CIC imposed a penalty of Rs 15,000 on the Public Information Officer (PIO) Sandeep Kumar Agarwal for failing to provide accurate and timely information. The Commission also awarded Rs 45,000 as compensation to Kumar for the hardships caused by the prolonged process.

According to the PTI report, RTI applicant Sanjeev Kumar had approached the Delhi government's Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) seeking details of licence issued to Artemis Hospital, where his wife underwent treatment, among other information in a 12-pointer application.

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"...Core contention of the appellant in the instant appeal was non-receipt of correct and accurate information from the PIO and also arbitrary practice adopted by the Artemis Hospital in raising unjustified demands/ bills during hospitalisation which gets facilitated by respondent's (DGHS) clandestine practice of renewing the licence with retrospective effect as a matter of routine," Tiwari noted.

Artemis being a private hospital is not covered under the provisions of the RTI Act.

"Entities providing Public Services being essential for the citizens have to be included in the definition of the "Public Authority" by bringing in a state-specific amendment of the RTI Act which is a concurrent list subject," Tiwari said.

During the hearing, Kumar had alleged that the recognition certificate dated August 01, 2023 of Artemis Hospital provided to him by DGHS, in response to his RTI application shows that the hospital had no valid license on dates of hospitalization of his wife on April 07-08, 2023.

"...It is noted from the oral submission of the respondent (DGHS) that registration of hospitals is being renewed retrospectively, which essentially means that private hospitals have an option to withdraw renewal requests should they get caught in malpractices," Tiwari pointed out.

He said despite repeated directions from the Commission during pendency of this case, DGHS has not uploaded the relevant legal/executive order authorizing such a back dated/ex post facto issuance.

"... The fact remains that allegation of appellant regarding exorbitant prices/bills raised by the Artemis Hospital cannot be ruled out in entirety as the respondent as well as the third party i.e. Artemis Lite Hospital have failed to file any counter submission to buttress the arguments of the appellant, therefore, the balance of convenience favours the appellant," Tiwari said.

The DGHS claimed that the plea that Artemis Hospital did not possess valid registration certificate at the relevant time is not acceptable since as per their normal practice the registration certificate under process is "deemed to be considered as a fact that registration of Hospital is still valid", news agency PTI reported.

"The Commission considering the submission of the parties concluded that the reply furnished by the PIO in the first instance and the submission given during the course of hearing are contradictory. This casual conduct of the PIO causes unwarranted obstructions to the appellant's right to information and is a grave violation to the provisions of the RTI Act," the CIC noted while issuing a show cause notice to the CPIO.

The CIC imposed a penalty of Rs 15000 on the CPIO Sandeep Kumar Agarwal and awarded a compensation of Rs 45000 to Kumar for the hardships to be paid by DGHS.

Tiwari said Kumar was made to suffer mental and financial harassment by making him to run from pillar to post at this very old age for the treatment of his wife by imposing exorbitant medical bills merely for the purpose of generation of profits.

"In view of the above, an advisory under Section 25(5) of the RTI Act is issued to the Respondent Public Authority (DGHS) to amend the applicable regulations governing renewal of licenses of private hospitals so as to afford an opportunity of hearing to the citizens affected by the deeds of the hospitals besides stopping the practice of issuing ex post facto renewal of license," Tiwari said in the order, a copy of which was also marked to Delhi Health Secretary.

He said many state governments are bringing the Right to (Public) Services Act to ensure delivery of public services to ensure entities providing services are held accountable for deficiencies.

"Such legislations are complementarity to the Right to Information Act because they rely on flow of information to determine deficiencies," Tiwari said.

He said, in contrast to it, DGHS by declaring hospital running under them as private entities and hence, being outside the purview of the RTI Act has defeated the very purpose of such social welfare arrangement and the Act.

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