Ongole: Ambulance operators warned against fleecing grieving families

Ongole: Prakasam district Transport Commissioner B Krishnaveni warned the owners and drivers of the ambulances that she would initiate strict action on them, if they found to be fleecing the patients.

She conducted a meeting with them at her office on Monday and suggested them to work with the humanitarian approach towards the victims of the Covid-19 and their family members.

The DTC asked the drivers of the ambulances to be alert while shifting the Covid patients to the hospitals. She said that they are receiving complaints that ambulances are charging exorbitant fares from the patients. She asked the ambulance operators to cooperate with the government in helping the poor. She asked them to act with humanitarian approach while shifting the dead bodies of the Covid patients to the burial grounds and warned them that stringent action will be taken on them, if they found that they charged unreasonable prices. She assured that they would see the ambulance drivers benefit from the welfare programmes of the government.

Ongole RDO M Prabhakar Reddy appreciated the services of the ambulance drivers during the Covid pandemic. He praised them for taking the initiative to shift the dead bodies to the burial ground when in times the family members also worrying to do the cremation. He said that though many of the ambulance drivers are doing service with humanitarian approach, a few of them are fleecing the people and it is not acceptable for the government. He ordered them to charge the people only reasonable prices. RTO A Chandrasekhar Reddy advised the drivers to protect their own lives while saving the lives of the Covid patients. He warned them not to be greedy and charge the customers as per the approved prices.

The owners of the ambulances complained that there is a shortage of drivers for the vehicles as they are also prone to infection. The drivers said that they are not charging much from the family members of the Covid patients, but the people at the burial ground are fleecing them.

MVI R Sundara Rao, Medical and Health department AO Prasanna Kumar and others also participated in the meeting.