A district consumer commission ordered a private hospital to pay ₹35.43 lakh and another ₹1 lakh as compensation to the wife of a COVID-19 patient who was charged an exorbitant amount for treatment.
The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission-III, Hyderabad, was dealing with a complaint by Bommi Reddy Sunanda Reddy who filed a complaint against Continental Hospitals, alleging that it had billed her ₹45 lakh for the treatment of her husband, Bommi Reddy Mruthyunjaya Reddy, who later succumbed to the virus.
The Commission, in an ex-parte order, directed the hospital to refund the excess amount after invoking the Telangana government’s Government Order (GO) RT 248, which fixed a ceiling on how much hospitals could charge for services during the pandemic.
