AIIMS exempts clinical charges of less than ₹500 till Nov 10

NEW DELHI: The country’s largest public hospital, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), on Wednesday exempted all charges for clinical services for out-patients with a billing transaction of less than Rs 500.

AIIMS issued the order to cope with the liquidity shortage of lower denominations available and avoid inconvenience to patients.

The premier medical institute also stated that the OPD card charge of Rs 10 per patient shall not be charged from new patients till November 10.

Around 10,000 outpatients come to AIIMS daily and most of them do not belong to Delhi but come from states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar for treatment.

Even as advisories were issued not to be concerned about demonetizing of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, confusion and fear were palpable among patients who visited AIIMS on Wednesday.

With patients’ spending on medicines beyond the AIIMS services, most patients complained that lack of lower denomination currencies was causing them inconvenience. Most patients highlighted that private chemist stores outside AIIMS and Safdarjung Hospital did not accept Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.

Private chemist stores outside AIIMS, however, pointed out that initially there was confusion on Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, which later got clarified.

However, they mentioned that with a rise in the number of people coming with Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, they ran out of currency notes of lower denomination.