The West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission has asked a private hospital based in Siliguri to pay Rs 2,34,000 as compensation to the family of a Covid patient for inflated billing earlier.

The family of Bijaya Rai, a resident of Darjeeling, had filed a petition with the commission through the help of a social organisation in Darjeeling, VikRun Foundation. The Foundation had earlier started providing legal help for such cases in the name of Bijaya, who died in June.

“The case had been filed in the first week of July with the commission in Kolkata, with an online hearing held yesterday by the chairperson, Asim Kr Banerjee. The order states that the amount of compensation will be paid in three instalments within this month.

The Darjeeling Chief Medical Officer of Health will be overlooking the process and in case of default, he will be reporting to the commission and a penalty will be imposed,” said Ramesh Mothay, an advocate who is part of the legal cell of the Foundation.

According to the legal cell, Bijaya had been admitted to Avlon Nursing Home at Matigara in Siliguri on 22 May, where she underwent treatment for 20 days. The nursing home had billed their family Rs 8,34,000. “Inflated rates were charged by the nursing home in such things like doctor consultation, MRPs of different medical supplies among other things,”

Mr Mothay said. Sources claimed that the private hospital had charged around Rs 42,000 for pathological tests alone, but did not mention the type of tests. It is learnt that the fees of the doctors were charged at around Rs 1,20,000, while the bills for the medicines were was Rs 3 lakh.

“There must be many such cases and we want to send a message across to the people that they can contact us and we will look into the matter and they could get similar relief,” said Mr Mothay. According to Nim Doma, the daughter of Bijaya, there was overbilling and negligence on the part of the private hospital, “which is why I did not remain quiet.”

“I would not have taken the compensation, but then again I thought it was my parents’ hard-earned money. I am happy that we got the compensation as we were not at fault,” she said today in Darjeeling. Bijaya Rai was a Group-D staff in the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration.

On the other hand, VikRun Foundation’s founder member Vikram Rai said, “There have been many malpractices in the name of Covid treatment by private hospitals, but many people do not raise such issues. It all started with Nima Doma speaking the truth and raising the issue.”

The Foundation maintained that no compensation would be enough for the loss of life, but they wanted to send across a strong message so that such things are not repeated.

Darjeeling district CMOH Dr Pralay Acharya could not be contacted for comment today, despite several attempts. Sources at the Avlon Hospital, meanwhile, said the nursing home was making preparations to follow the orders of the commission.

Flooded by complaints of exorbitant rates being charged from Covid-19 patients by private hospitals in Siliguri, health department officials had earlier claimed they had sent all the complaints to the state health department.

They also claimed that they had show-caused seven nursing homes in the town a few months ago. Several people had expressed discontent over the alleged delay in taking action or alleged inaction on the part of the health department. In its 11th advisory issued last year, the regulatory commission had said that the charges have to remain at what they used to be on March 1, 2020.

It also said that hospitals have to offer a 10 per cent discount on medicines or else allow the patients’ families to buy them on their own.