India Immediately Influence: Rajasthan Authorities Makes GPS Monitoring Obligatory for Ambulances to Curb Overloads

After India Today exposed ambulance cartels outside major hospitals in Jaipur, overwhelming patients and their families, the Rajasthan government made GPS tracking mandatory in all ambulances.

After India Today exposed ambulance cartels outside major hospitals in Jaipur, the Rajasthan government made GPS tracking mandatory in all ambulances. (Photo: file)

After India Today uncovered ambulance cartels operating outside of Jaipur’s largest hospitals, overwhelming patients and their families in violation of government guidelines, the Rajasthan government issued an order on Friday making it mandatory for all ambulances to have a vehicle tracking system or install a GPS device.

This will help curb cases of overcharging, ambulances traveling long distances, patient abuse and criminal activity, the state Department of Transportation said.

In the past few days, the India Today team conducted an undercover investigation and found that “ambulance sharks” outside the major hospitals of Jaipur are charging people exorbitant amounts even for short distances, in complete contravention of government guidelines issued in April this year violates.

Ambulance thugs EXPOSED in #Rajasthan
(@ankurwadhawan) #Jaipur pic.twitter.com/B7Rrts6Sxi

– IndiaToday (@IndiaToday) June 3, 2021

The government of Rajasthan had formulated guidelines in April to regulate the fees charged by ambulance operators during the second wave of the pandemic.

After that, Rs 500 is charged for the first 10 kilometers. After that, operators can charge double the fare, which is charged at Rs 12.5-15 per km, depending on the size of the ambulance. An additional Rs 350 may be charged for the transport of a Covid patient or body, as well as for the required PSA kit and disinfection.

However, ambulance operators quoted prices of up to 4,500 rupees for short distances that, according to state-regulated prices, should not have cost more than 1,500 rupees.

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