Cap reasonable ambulance charges for COVID-19 patients: SC

New Delhi : Supreme Court, where many petitions have been filed over-regulation of hospital charges during the coronavirus pandemic, on Friday directed all states to fix a reasonable rate for ambulance services to Covid patients.

Expressing concerns over how there are instances about ambulances overcharging the patients, the top court also directed the states to ensure that there are enough ambulance services.

"States are bound to carry out the advisory issued by the Centre to deal with pandemic," said the Supreme Court, which had earlier directed the Centre to cap COVID-19 testing charges in various states.

However, the Supreme Court has not capped the cost of treatment for coronavirus as medical health infrastructure differed from state to state and that the central government must come up with a solution.

The court was hearing a petition filed to increase the number of ambulances in the state. It is expected to bring relief to hundreds of coronavirus patients who are being charged exorbitant amounts by private ambulance service providers as most state-run ambulance services struggle to improve their fleet.