Following the bed availability crisis in private hospitals, the civic body is now trying to resolve the growing number of complaints around inflated hospital bills. The BMC has directed private hospitals to submit all COVID bills to auditors after a patient is discharged and civic chief Iqbal Singh Chahal has suggested that private hospitals purchase PPE kits from the civic body at lower rates.

The civic body is currently buying kits at R400 each due to the huge quantity. Chahal said that private hospitals, however, purchase them at R900 each and then make a profit by selling them at R1,500. "While we have fixed the rates of beds, private hospitals are charging a higher amount for PPE kits, masks and gloves. So we are offering them to buy the kits from us at R400 and the benefits can then be passed on to the patient," he said.