Pvt hospitals refuse to toe govt line

Many people faced problems in purchasing medicines and paying bills for their patients in private hospitals which refused to accept demonetised currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations. The situation was slightly better in the government hospital, who are authorised by the Union government to accept the said currency notes. But patients and their attendant had a tough time buying medicines as chemists refused to accept payment in demonetised currency notes. AIIMS, meanwhile, waived off OPD charges of walk in patients and clinical charges up to Rs 500 of patients till November 11.

Patients and their attendants visiting the country’s premier hospital AIIMS and Safadarjung Hospital have complained that they had to face a lot of difficulty in buying medicines from pharmacists around the hospitals. “My wife is undergoing cancer treatment at the AIIMS and I am only left with currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000. Today morning, I went to buy medicine but all the chemists refused to accept these demonetised currency. Forget about the medicines, even the guesthouse and eateries have started refusing these notes. I am left with no money and don’t know how I will survive,” said Ram Charan, a resident of Bihar.

The scene is completely different at private hospitals, which are not accepting the demonetised currency following the government rules. “Despite my repeated request, the hospital administration refused to accept the payment consisting of these demonetised currency notes. They are asking me to make the payment through credit or debit card or internet banking,” said an attendant of a patient admitted at Fortis Hospital in Shalimar Bagh.

“At Fortis Hospitals across the country, we continue to accept payments through credit card, debit card, and electronic banking transfers. As denominations of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 are no longer legal tender, we are only accepting Rs 100 and lower currency notes,” said the Fortis management.