THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Beneficiaries of Medisep, the health insurance programme for Kerala government employees and pensioners, are free to approach the consumer disputes redressal commission, the State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (SCDRC) has ruled.
The commission rejected the argument by the Oriental Insurance Company, insurance provider of Medisep, that complaints against the scheme should be submitted to the Medisep Grievance Redressal mechanism before approaching the consumer commission.
The case pertained to a petition filed by a 78-year-old retired headmaster before the Ernakulam district commission. He challenged the rejection of a claim for Rs 2.16 lakh which he spent on heart treatment. Oriental challenged the maintainability of the petition, citing that the beneficiary should have approached the grievance redressal cell first. The district commission rejected Oriental’s argument, following which the company filed an appeal before the state commission.
The SCDRC bench, comprising its president Justice B Sudheendra Kumar and judicial member Ajith Kumar D, considered the appeal. It observed that Section 100 of the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, provides that the provisions in the act are in “addition to and not in derogation” of the provisions of any other law. Therefore, the commission has jurisdiction over complaints relating to Medisep claims, it said.