Medical facilities don’t need trade licence anymore

BENGALURU: Private healthcare facilities in the state need not obtain a trade licence from city corporations to register under Karnataka Private Medical Establishment Act anymore. A government order to this effect was passed on Saturday. Upcoming clinics, nursing homes, hospitals and diagnostic centres can now run without a trade licence while existing ones need not apply for renewal every five years as they previously did.

A week ago, private hospital associations submitted a memorandum to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah that trade licences should be abolished. Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association (PHANA) president Dr Madan Gaekwad stated in the memorandum that hospitals are not doing a trading activity and are serving the community. He added that medical establishments in some states do not obtain trade licences to function. The argument was that when the industrial sector (MSME) in Karnataka does not require trade licences, there is no reason why medical establishments should.

“The BBMP checked location, the area occupied and whether the establishment is running in a trading area and not in a residential zone. Now, the respective KPME district authorities will check the building specifications,” said Dr S M Sridhar, deputy director, medical, directorate of health and family welfare.
Saturday’s order states that hospitals will continue to submit environment impact assessment notifications, abide by Water and Air Pollution Act, follow Biomedical Waste Management Rules and produce a copy of the MoU with a biomedical waste treatment facility approved by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board.

To register under KPME, they will also need to follow Hazardous Waste rules, e-Waste Management Rules, get approval from Atomic Energy Regulatory Board, obtain licences and approvals from several other authorities.

Dr Manoranjan Hegde, BBMP health officer (south), said, “Previously we asked for building owners’ consent, neighbours’ consent and fee to issue licences. During physical inspection if we found mixing of general waste with biomedical waste we would levy penalties for violation. Now that the trade licence has been abolished, we would do random inspections for violation in interest of public health.”