Few checks in place, ambulances fleece desperate Covid patients

NEW DELHI: There have been complaints of ambulances charging Covid patients as much as a flight to Europe to cover distances as small as 10-15 kilometres. Yet, few state governments, barring Punjab and Maharashtra, have stepped in to regulate charges. Even where caps have been fixed, there have been instances of their being flouted.

The Maharashtra government was forced to step in towards the end of June after several cases came to light at the peak of the pandemic in Mumbai of people being forced to pay up to Rs 30,000 for an ambulance to ferry them 10-15 km, roughly Rs 3,000 per km. In Pune, a Covid patient was charged Rs 8,000 for 7 km within the city in the last week of June.

Similar complaints have been pouring in from other states. A Bangalore resident was charged Rs 15,000 to transport his 54-year-old mother to a private hospital less than 6-km away. In Kolkata, private ambulances are charging Rs 6,000-8,000 for ferrying Covid patients for about 5km.

To add to it, many private ambulance services were charging Rs 3,000 extra for PPE kit for the driver and helper and for disinfecting the ambulance. In Hyderab