No credit, only cash

When a loved one is sick, hospitalised and needs immediate treatment, the last thing you want to do is run around looking for an ATM. But corporate hospitals expect you to do just that. patients are often made to wait till their family members are ready to cough up cash at the billing counter. No matter how big the bill, their demand is the same — “cash only”. Ask why, and the reply is also standard — “Our machines are not working.”
Harish S., an investment banker whose pregnant wife was made to wait for treatment at Apollo Hospitals, says, “My wife got severe cramps one evening and we rushed to the hospital. We had to get some tests done immediately, but they asked me to pay up first. Since I wasn’t carrying cash, I offered to pay by credit or debit card, but they refused saying they only accept cash. I had to leave my panic-stricken wife in the waiting room and rush out to search for an ATM.”
With the withdrawal limit set at Rs 4,000 in most ATMs, Harish took a good 45 minutes to return with the cash. “My wife was writhing in pain all that while, but the treatment began only after I paid.”
Srikanth, an employee of IBM too faced a similar problem at Apollo. “I had to reschedule my complete cardio check up since they refused to take my card. i had to come back the next day with cash,” he says, adding, “How can reputed hospitals deny people this basic facility?”
Dr Hari Prasad, CEO, Apollo Health City, however, clarifies, “We usually have multiple billing counters so if one machine doesn’t work, there’s always another option. But we don’t accept a card payment if the patient does not have an Id card along with his credit card. We insist on this rule as many try to pass off others’ cards as theirs.”
Strangely, these “technical glitches” have become the order of the day in most city hospitals. Nivedita Rao, who works for a publishing firm, suffered a similar fate when she decided to get a PNS CT scan done. “I was first turned away from Vijaya Diagnostic centre in Secunderabad, where an official refused to accept my card and said they only accept cash. I then went to Yashoda Hospital, only to be told that their machine wasn’t working.”
Murthy, the official spokesperson for Yashoda justifies, “This is just a one-off incident. There was a problem with the HDFC server and hence the problem.” Vishan Das, manager, Vijaya Diagnostics, meanwhile denies any such incident. “We don’t turn away patients. There must have been a problem with the cardholder’s account.”
Whether you pay by credit or cash, treatment should be the priority, not payment, says District Medical Health Officer Jayakumari. “No one can deny treatment. If you don’t have cash on hand, hospitals must begin treatment after accepting your contact details and verifying your ID proof. Payment can be made later.”