Sassoon Hospital in Pune has restricted the entry and parking of private ambulances after hospital authorities cited traffic obstruction, disputes among drivers and complaints that families were being charged excessive fares. The Pune Ambulance Association, however, has sought a designated parking area, saying ambulances are needed near the mortuary and for patients being discharged.
The dispute centres on how private ambulances can access the hospital campus while keeping internal roads and medical departments clear. The association said ambulances arriving to provide services near the mortuary were being stopped by security guards. Its representatives, Balasaheb Hingne and vice-president Atul Nimbhore, alleged that vehicles were fitted with wheel clamps and that receipts were issued when drivers parked inside the premises. They claimed that the documents were not standard parking-fee receipts but related to hospital operations, and alleged that action was being taken against only selected ambulances.
The association has demanded an inquiry into the restrictions and a reserved parking facility for ambulances. Its position is that families collecting discharged patients or taking bodies from the mortuary need timely access to ambulance services, particularly when vehicles must wait nearby for operational reasons.
Medical superintendent Dr Yallappa Jadhav rejected the allegations. He said private ambulances had been parked in an undisciplined manner on hospital roads and near medical departments, obstructing the movement of patients’ relatives and an electrical buggy used to transport patients to wards. The hospital has therefore introduced a gate-pass system under which an ambulance identified by a patient’s relatives must be registered before it is allowed to enter.
Jadhav said the hospital has limited parking space. Although a pay-and-park facility is available for two-wheelers, there is insufficient space to provide a separate facility for four-wheelers, including private ambulances. He also said that allowing selected ambulances to remain on the premises could lead to disputes because of a lack of coordination among drivers and disagreements over the allocation of fares.
According to the hospital administration, it has received complaints involving unauthorised parking, arguments and physical altercations among ambulance drivers, as well as allegations that families were charged excessive amounts. Jadhav said security personnel had also faced intimidation from some private ambulance owners and drivers despite repeated warnings.
The restrictions affect a sensitive point in hospital operations: families may need an ambulance immediately after discharge or when transporting a body from the mortuary, while the hospital must keep internal routes open for patients, staff and equipment. The present system places responsibility on relatives to select an ambulance and complete its registration before entry, rather than allowing unrestricted parking by private operators.
Jadhav said any penalty collected during enforcement is deposited into the government account. The hospital maintains that the gate-pass arrangement and action against unauthorised parking are intended to preserve discipline and protect patients and their relatives. The ambulance association’s demand for a designated facility and an inquiry remains the main unresolved issue in the dispute.
