Around 950 registered private hospitals in Pune must prominently display treatment charges and medical service rates in Marathi and English, with non-compliant facilities facing possible administrative and legal action under a state government directive.
The Public Health Department has instructed hospitals to place rate cards at locations that patients can easily access, including entrances, registration desks, enquiry counters and billing counters. The measure is intended to help patients understand treatment costs in advance and reduce disputes over medical bills.
The directive follows instructions from the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Private hospitals registered under the Bombay Nursing Homes Registration Act, 1949, are required to display service charges prescribed under Schedule III of the Maharashtra Nursing Homes Registration Rules, 2021.
Hospitals must also update their rate cards whenever charges change. Details of treatment packages and their costs must be made available to patients as part of the billing transparency requirements. The directive applies to hospitals registered under the relevant nursing homes legislation, according to the report.
Regional medical officers will inspect hospitals to verify whether the guidelines are being followed. Facilities found violating the requirements may face administrative and legal action, although the directive does not specify the nature or scale of the penalties in the information available.
The Pune Municipal Corporation has separately instructed private hospitals within its jurisdiction to comply. Suryakant Devkar, assistant health officer of the PMC, said displaying rate cards was mandatory for private hospitals operating within civic limits.
“Displaying rate cards is mandatory for private hospitals within PMC limits. We have already issued instructions to hospitals. Regional medical officers will inspect them to check compliance, and the civic body is monitoring the implementation,” Devkar said.
The requirement places responsibility on hospitals to make their charges visible before patients proceed with treatment or billing. It also gives civic and health officials a defined compliance point for inspections: whether current rates and package costs are displayed at the specified patient-facing locations.
The inspections by regional medical officers will determine whether hospitals have implemented the directive. Hospitals are also expected to revise displayed information whenever their treatment charges change.
