Patiala Private hospital warned against Overcharging for Covid Vaccination

Patiala: A private hospital in Patiala was reported to have overcharged the beneficiaries for Covid vaccination despite the central government's order not to charge more than Rs 375 for Covid vaccination.   

The hospital situated at the Model town in Patiala city charged an amount of Rs 400 from a beneficiary today, whereas the same hospital was charging Rs 700 for a single dose. 

Very few private hospitals are administering Covid vaccines. The beneficiaries said that the Health Department and the District Administration failed to keep a check on the overcharging of the Covid vaccine. 

With regards to overcharging, Dr. Veenu Goyal, district immunization officer said that no private hospital was allowed to charge beyond Rs 375 fixed by the Central Government. 

Dr. Veenu told the Tribune India: "Before this complaint of overcharging, we received a similar complaint against the same hospital. We have already directed them to adhere to price capping that has been fixed by the Centre."

However, Patiala DC Sakshi Sawhney said that they would be looking into the matter. Patiala Civil Surgeon Dr. Raju Dhir said that he was busy in a meeting when called to comment upon the matter. 

The Patiala Health Department had administered Covid shots to 3,170 beneficiaries on Tuesday. Out of them, 745 were administered the first dose, while 2,084 were jabbed with the second dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. The health officials said that 341 beneficiaries were given the booster dose. 

The Medical Dialogues team had earlier reported a similar story where a private hospital has to cough up a hefty amount of Rs 14 Lakh as a fine after it overcharged a Covid patient who was supposed to get free treatment following the directions of the district collectorate. The action was taken against the hospital after the State Human Rights Commission's intervention (SHRC).