Telangana: Hospitals bar cheques

Hyderabad: With cheques given by patients bouncing, many private hospitals in the city are refusing to accept cheques. A super speciality hospital in Banjara Hills put up fascimile images of the bounced cheques with the name of the patient and mobile number. A senior administration officer said, “We can’t accept cheques from the patients as they are bouncing. After demonetisation, we were accepting cheques to help patients. With the cheques being dishonoured. we are left in the lurch. Many of them are not even taking our phone calls.”

Other hospitals have put up A4 prints of the bounced cheques on the counters and stating that they would accept payment only by cards or cash. The cheques issued by registered NGOs which ‘gap-fund’ patients who are not able to pay in full for treatment are also not being accepted. Mr Mujtaba Askari, who is part of a charitable organisation said, “We are a registered organisation and can’t afford to let our cheques bounce, but the hospitals are not willing to listen.”

Mr Satyanarayan, who underwent gastrointestinal surgery, said he had paid Rs 50,000 by cash during admission. He gave a cheque for Rs 2.5 lakh, and the hospital held back the medical file till the cheque was cleared. “After it was cleared, the hospital is making us run around for the file for last 10 days.” Mr Shiva Kumar, an administrative officer, said, “Hospitals do not have extra staff to visit patients’ home to collect money. Proceeding legally against the patients is not possible as it would involve more cost.”