Even as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has started an enquiry against L H Hiranandani Hospital for overcharging a patient for a COVID-19 test and her family has demanded a refund, the hospital administration has come up with a new statement to justify the charges. While earlier they had said that the patient paid only Rs 5,200, now they claim that the additional Rs 1,200 (total: Rs 6,400) was consultation charge as a doctor's prescription is mandatory for conducting the test.

Even though the BMC has capped the charge for a COVID-19 test at Rs 4,500 for all private labs, Malad resident Asha Kulkarni had to pay Rs 6,400 for it at the hospital's lab.