BENGALURU: Government-owned KC General Hospital in Malleswaram was served a notice by the Bangalore Electricity Supply Corporation Limited (Bescom) seeking clearance of pending bills which runs into Rs 48 lakh.
A senior Bescom official told The New Indian Express, “This hospital has a track record of not clearing bills on a monthly basis. With the backlog piling up, we were forced to serve the notice.” Bescom officials said that the first notice was issued to the hospital two months ago and then again on January 17. On January 30, the Bescom staffers went to the hospital asking the authorities to clear the bills, but no avail.
“We do not want to snap the power supply as it’s a hospital and patients will be affected. Same is the case with BBMP and BWSSB water bills, especially bills for pumping borewells. While private hospitals clear bills on time, government BODIES tend to delay payments,” a senior a Bescom official said.
On an average, the monthly bill of the hospital comes to around Rs 7-8 lakh a month. It runs on a 250KV- HT installation.
A senior official from the hospital,not wanting to be named, said that the required amount is not released by the Health Department in time. “The amount for water and electricity bills should be released by default on a monthly basis on fixed dates under the monthly maintenance amounts. But for every bill clearance, we are forced to seek the department’s approval. Since a small amount is released, we are able to partially pay the monthly bills.”