They are now considered as a separate category in KERC’s tariff slabs
Raelene Kambli,
EH News Bureau
The Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission’s (KERC) has announced a 15 per cent reduction in tariff rates for hospitals within the state after hearing a plea from the Association of Healthcare Providers of India (AHPI).
It comes as a respite for hospitals within the state because as per the tariffs determined by the Electricity Regulation Commission hospitals are charged at par with cinema halls and other commercial properties. This in turn causes hospitals to spend around two to four per cent on electricity bills, thereby directly impacting the cost of services they provide. The AHPI’s Karnataka chapter lobbied to address this issue on behalf of the hospital community and finally convinced the KERC to reduce tariff rates for the hospitals and put them in a separate category in their tariff slabs. The initiative was spearheaded by Dr Devi Shetty, Founder, Narayana Hrudayalaya and an office bearer of AHPI;Dr Girdhar Gyani, Director General, AHPI;and Dr Alexander Thomas, Director & CEO of Bangalore Baptist Hospital and National Vice President of AHPI.
Accordingly to the new rate card for hospitals, they will be entitled to pays Rs 6 per unit for the first one lakh units and Rs 6.50 per unit, beyond one lakh units. These consumers paid Rs 1.50 more than what they will be charged henceforth. But the demand charges of Rs 170 per kilovoltampere (KVA) are applicable to them.
Commenting on this new development, Dr Gyani said, “Government treats healthcare as a commercial business which is completely unfair. Few months back we started this initiative that focussed on two important aspects of healthcare: delivery-patient safety and affordability of healthcare. In line with this initiative, we approached the KERC to reduce the tariff rates for hospitals. Prior to this the KERC had announced a hike in tariff through all sectors; however now they have withheld the hike for hospitals. They have now reduced the rates by 15 per cent for hospitals. This step will benefit hospitals significantly as they spend nearly 60 per cent of their cost on patient consumption. So reduction in electricity tariff will surely help them to bring down their cost of services in the time to come.”
Elaborating on the benefit and expressing his joy, Dr Thomas said, “Earlier, we spent around Rs 1.5 – 2 crore on electricity bills, with this new development we can now serve more poor patients. I would like to thank MR Srinivas Murthy, Chairman, KERC for lending his support and also Dr Devi Shetty who spearhead this initiative.”
The initiative taken by the KERC has been applauded by the industry and raised questions on the action plans that other states would adopt on this front. Talking about the Delhi scenario, Dr (Prof) DP Saraswat, CEO, Action Group of Hospitals informs that the healthcare providers in Delhi have already presented their recommendation to the government; however the matter has not been taken up for discussion. He further goes on to inform that since the hospital land has been provided by the government, it is binding on the hospital to offer 25 per cent and their OPD services and 10 per cent of in-patient services to poor patients free of cost, which they are already doing. What enrages him is that inspite of this, hospitals are slotted at par with cinema halls and malls. Moreover, all hospital functions require adequate and uninterrupted supply of power in order to provide better healthcare services to their patients. It is only then that the hospitals will be able to provide high quality services and a sterile environment all year long. Delhi also suffers from loading shedding, a problem which makes hospitals in Delhi spend heavily on installing power generators. This added expense makes it very difficult for hospitals to cut healthcare costs. Therefore, he feels that like the Karnataka Government, other state governments should also adopt this criteria and slot healthcare in a separate tariff slab.
When asked about reduction of electricity tariff in other states, Dr Gyani answered, “Haryana and Madhya Pradesh have done it in the past. They have incorporated healthcare within the industrial slab so the tariffs are lower as compared to other states. After Karnataka, the AHPI will focus on other states as well”.
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