Can medical patients get protection as ‘consumers’?

In a recent judgement, the Supreme Court discussed whether the Consumer Protection Act is applicable to hospitals. The Court said that only those hospitals which provide free medical services to all patients will fall outside the coverage of the Consumer Protection Act.

So, the Consumer Protection Act does not apply to hospitals that do not charge anyone for any medical service i.e, hospitals that only provide free services. However, if you are a patient and you approach a hospital that charges for medical services, then you can get protection as a consumer under the Consumer Protection Act.

Seeking consumer protection against hospitals

The Consumer Protection Act provides protection for consumers and establishes authorities for timely and effective

settlement of consumer disputes.

The Act covers any service which is made available to a person who might use the service. This does not include any free service or a service which is provided without any payment.

In Indian Medical Association v. VP Shantha, the Supreme Court looked at 3 situations where a hospital provides medical services:

1. Hospitals that provide medical services free of cost to all persons – Consumer Protection Act is not applicable.
2. Hospitals that provide medical services in return for payment by patients – Consumer Protection Act is applicable.
3. Hospitals that mostly provide services on payment basis, but also provide free service to some poor patients – The Court said that in this situation, the hospital’s expenses for providing the free service are met out of the income it gets from the paying patients. So, the Consumer Protection Act is applicable to these hospitals. Patients who get medical services from these hospitals should be treated equally, irrespective of the fact that some of them pay for the service and others get the service free of charge. Even a person who is given free service in these hospitals is considered as a ‘consumer’ under the Act.