The online payment system at the billing counters of the capital’s Hamidia Hospital has been completely shut down. Due to this, patients and their family members arriving for treatment and tests are facing immense difficulties. In today’s digital era, most people do not carry cash in their pockets. Under such circumstances, the outright refusal to accept online payments at the counters is forcing attendants to face heavy hardships in making sudden arrangements for cash to pay the bills. On several occasions, patients themselves are forced to wander far away to arrange for cash, which is also adversely affecting their health. During the ground report, Rajendra, who had arrived to get a CT scan done for his patient, told ‘The Hitavada’ team that when he went to the counter to deposit the test fee, the staff present there flatly refused to take online payment. Rajendra did not have cash at that moment, because of which he had to wander here and there to arrange the cash. Due to this system of the hospital, female patients are also facing severe hardships. Sahiba, who came to the hospital for a sonography, shared that she had not brought cash with her. Because digital payment was not accepted at the counter, she had to wander around for a long time for cash, which wasted her precious time and also caused a significant delay in her test.

 

Another patient, Meina, standing at the same counter, told that she too had come only for her sonography test. However, due to the sudden demand for cash at the counter, she had to go outside to arrange the money. Because of this, when she returned, her position in the test queue fell far behind, and she had to wait for hours. Amit shares that arranging cash in the hospital is very difficult. Because of this, many patients who are unaware that online payment is not accepted are forced to return empty-without getting a treatment.” According to the information received from the staff deployed at the counter during the ground report, the cashless facility was available in the hospital until a few days ago, but it has been shut down due to apprehensions of accounting discrepancies and technical issues. Now, on the directions of the management, only cash is being accepted at the counter. It is worth noting that serious patients from across the entire state come to Hamidia Hospital for treatment. Arranging sudden cash during an emergency is proving to be a major challenge for families coming from far-flung areas. The aggrieved public has demanded the hospital management to resolve this problem at the earliest and restart the online payment facility so that patients can get relief from this trouble.