Thane COVID-19 hospital overcharges patients; loses licence

THANE: The civic body in Maharashtra's Thane city on Saturday suspended the licence of a private hospital and cancelled its classification as a COVID-19 facility after it allegedly overcharged patients.

The Thane Municipal Corporation set up an audit team to examine bills and detected excess billing to the tune of Rs 27 lakh by 15 hospitals.

Based on the findings, the civic body cancelled the classification of a private hospital on Ghodbunder Road for COVID-19 treatment and suspended its licence for a month, an official said.

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The TMC's audit team had detected excess billing to the tune of Rs 6,08,900 in 56 bills of 797 patients treated by the hospital till July 12, he said.

The civic body has assigned two officials to monitor the treatment of patients who are presently admitted at the hospital and ensure that they are not overcharged, the official said.

Meanwhile, deputy municipal commissioner Sandeep Malavi said the drive against errant hospitals will continue and similar action will be taken in other cases as well.