Ambulance rates capped in Bokaro

Bokaro: The office of Bokaro district officer Sanjeev Kumar on Friday capped the ambulance charge and operators can now charge a maximum of Rs 600 for ferrying a patient for 10km. This comes after reports surfaced that ambulance operators are charging an exorbitant amount for ferrying Covid patients.
The state government has fixed the fare for private ambulances. Under this, operators of general ambulances (without ventilators) will be able to take Rs 500 for ferrying a patient up to 10km. Those going beyond 10km will charge Rs 12/km. Similarly, operators of ambulances with ventilators will be able to take up to Rs 600 from patients for a maximum of 10 km from the beginning of the journey. An additional amount of Rs 500 will have to be paid for the PPE kit of the ambulance driver. For sanitization of ambulances, Rs 200 will have to be paid to the operator.
All ambulance operators must comply with the prescribed rate. The ambulance operator will not be paid separately for the oxygen supply of the patient. Kumar said that if any complaint is received from the family of the patients against any ambulance operator that he asks for or take more money than the prescribed rate, then action will be taken against him/her.
In case of any problem, Kumar will immediately inform the BDO, CO and the police station in-charge of the block concerned. The officials concerned will ensure action under the relevant sections of the disaster management act.