Mumbai: Ruling that a hospital cannot detain a patient over a billing dispute, the Maharashtra State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission has penalised Bhatia Hospital in Tardeo, for withholding the discharge of a two-day-old newborn nine years ago.The commission criticised the hospital’s approach, observing, “With constraint we observe that the conduct and behaviour of the officials of the opponent was callous and casual and insensitive towards the baby boy, who was two days old, particularly, when an undertaking was given by the complainant that he would pay the bill within 24 hours after denial of the cashless facility.”The commission ordered the hospital to pay the Prabhadevi-based father a total compensation of about Rs 38,080, which includes refund of the excessively charged bill amount along with nine years of accrued interest. “The patient cannot be detained for want of clearance of the bill. In the present case, the bill due was less than the deposit amount. The hospital officials should have allowed the baby to leave the hospital to join the company of his mother but no priority was given by the officials of the opponent,” the commission said.The commission partly allowed the complaint filed by Rajesh Dharap. Dharap, an advocate, appeared in person. The incident dates back to Feb 2017, when Dharap’s wife delivered twin boys. One of the newborns required neonatal intensive care and was shifted to Bhatia Hospital. The hospital added extra half-day charges. The commission said the baby was detained for more than nine hours. The commission held the hospital guilty of a deficiency in service.The hospital denied deficiency and said Dharap had opted for cashless insurance. The hospital stated that discharge formalities could take around 5-6 hours and that the delay occurred because the insurance provider raised a query and later rejected cashless approval.
