Trending:

Mumbai: You may not have to pay user fees in BMC dispensaries and clinics soon

The idea to discontinue the user fee that is charged in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) public healthcare hospitals has yet to receive a nod from the civic body administration.

TN City Desk

Updated Oct 4, 2022, 12:51 IST

Representational Image

Photo : PTI

Mumbai: Mumbaikars may no longer have to pay user fees in Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC’s) dispensaries and primary health centres. The user fees that were introduced in public healthcare hospitals nearly three decades ago, may soon be discontinued in the metropolis.

However, the BMC top brass has yet to issue any direction with respect to this matter.

“Patients won't have to even pay the Rs 10 for registration and OPD (outpatient Department) file. Even investigations will be done free of cost,” said BMC executive health officer Dr. Mangala Gomare, as reported by the Times of India.

On Sunday, chiefs of all AIIMS (All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences) indicated that all user fees up to Rs 300 and the fees of Rs 10 that are charged for new OPD cards will be done away with across AIIMS starting November 1, 2022.

However, there is still ambiguity about whether the change will also be seen in state-and corporation-level hospitals.

BMC director of medical education, Dr. Neelam Andrade, said the idea has been discussed for the hospitals ( like KEM, Sion, and Nair) that the BMC operates but a final decision has not been made yet.

Dr. Andrade further said that with the BMC revamping the primary healthcare system and installation of new polyclinics, the administration has decided to not charge patients for registration or any blood test at these centres.

The practice of user fees first started in the late 1990s with the World Bank, as a part of its health sector reforms, stating that countries should implement user fees for healthcare services in order to be eligible to receive World Bank loans.

All public hospitals across India introduced user fees for all citizens, except for those below the poverty line. However, according to the studies conducted by NGOs the use of public health facilities had declined in the last 20 years since the introduction of user fees.

Latest News