Government's revenue authority has withdrawn the duty rebate provisions for referral hospitals that used to keep 5.0 per cent of their seats reserved for free-of-cost admission of poor and low-income patients.
The decision to withdraw the facility was taken following allegation of widespread abuse of the facility by vested quarters, officials said.
The customs wing of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) has scrapped the provision in the budget for 2016-17, just after one year of its introduction, through the Finance Act 2016.
In a further fiscal measure it has levied 1.0 per cent duty on the import of medical equipment and machinery by the referral hospitals.
Until fiscal year (FY) 2015-16, the referral hospitals had enjoyed duty-free facility for import of medical appliances on certain conditions.
Talking to the FE, a senior customs official said the government withdrew the provision of keeping 5.0 per cent free-of-cost seats for poor patients in the referral hospital as a condition of enjoying the duty-free facility following allegations from the hospitals' authorities of undue pressure on them for granting the facility.
The hospitals were forced to offer the free-of-cost facility to influential quarters instead of the deserving poor, he said.
Many of the posh hospitals in the city faced such unusual pressure as the provision of 5.0 per cent free bed was in place against the duty-free facility, the official added.
Another customs official said the condition of free-of-cost bed was incorporated into the customs law without keeping adequate option for monitoring.
It was not mentioned who and how allocation of 5.0 per cent free seats at hospital will be monitored, he pointed out.
The definition of 'poor patient' was also not well-defined in the customs order to make it clear for both the customs and private hospital authorities, he said.
A total of 24 private hospitals of the country had enjoyed the 'referral hospital' facility for import of medical and hospital equipment since 2005.
Officials said with the imposition of 1.0 per cent duty on medical imports the free-bed facility in the referral hospital was withdrawn from the current fiscal year.
Generally, a referral hospital is a hospital that a patient is referred to by other health-care centres because it is better equipped and has specially trained physicians for better as well as special treatment.
The country's referral hospitals are BIRDEM, National Heart Foundation, Apollo, Zainul Haque Sikder Women's Medical College and Hospital, Khawaja Yunous Ali Medical Collage, Ibrahim Iqbal Memorial Hospital, Jalalabad Rajib-Rabeya medical, United Hospital, Square, Salauddin specialised hospital, Ad-din, Delta, Labaid, Green Life, Enam Medical, Bangabandhu memorial hospital, Sumona hospital, Monsur Ali Medical College, Dr Sirajul Islam, Care specialised hospital, Samorita, Gazi Medical College, and Ali Hospital.
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