HYDERABAD: Taking cognisance of Apollo Hospitals in Jubliee Hills levying a registration fee of Rs 200 on a patient, the Consumer Forum in Hyderabad instructed the Director of Public Health to ensure that the practice was stopped across hospitals in Hyderabad.
The complaint was filed by anti-corruption activist Vijay Gopal in 2019. The hospital was fined Rs 10,000 as compensation for furthering the ‘Restrictive Trade Practice’ of collecting a registration fee from first-time patients, over and above the consultation fee. The commission said that no hospital has the authority to collect such charges or take data of patients for consulting doctors. Gopal said that he had to shell out Rs 1,100, which included Rs 900 as consultation fee and Rs 200 as registration fee. He further stated that he was not given any receipt for the registration fee paid.
The commission stated, “The patient who is being treated by a particular doctor in a particular hospital may not consult him again. Therefore, the hospitals are not authorised to collect such registration charges or any data from the patients as a prerequisite for availing the services of a doctor.”