Rs 1.54 crore fine imposed on 39 private Covid hospitals

Kakinada: District Collector D Muralidhar Reddy issued orders on Saturday imposing a fine of Rs 1.54 crore on 39 Covid-19 private hospitals for not following guidelines besides collecting a high fee from patients.

The Collector held a video-conference with Covid-19 notified private hospitals managements from the Collectorate here on Saturday. During the inspection, they found that these 39 hospitals are violating government regulations and are charging higher rates from the Covid-19 patients.

He imposed a fine ranging between Rs 2 lakh and 10 lakh for violating the Covid norms. The total penalty imposed on private hospitals is Rs 1.54 crore. He instructed the private hospitals to pay the fine amount to Aarogyasri account within 48 hours. He said that the fine was only a preliminary step.

He warned that the fine was imposed for committing an offence for the first time. If the private hospitals continued to violate Covid guidelines, their hospitals would be taken over and maintained by the State government personnel.

He also warned the managements of strict legal action if they do not follow the rules with regard to extending services to coronavirus patients.