BBMP sets crazy high ceiling rates to treat COVID patients at hotels; draws flak

Karnataka is grappling with rising COVID cases, mounting dead bodies waiting to be cremated, and acute shortage of hospital beds to treat severe cases. Amidst all this, the state government imposed strict curfew across the state to break the chain of COVID spread, but the grave concern at hand - to treat COVID patients with urgency is still unresolved. In an attempt to expand the capacity of COVID care beds in Bengaluru, which is the worst hit by the second wave in the southern state, the city's civic body BBMP roped in hotels and hostels to assist.

The state government introduced "step-down hospitals," which is basically a term used for hotels and hostels that have been chosen to treat COVID-19 patients. Bengaluru's civic body BBMP further clarified the role of these "step-down hospitals" and revealed the rates at which patients can be admitted to 5-star or 4-star hotels at their own expense.

BBMP's commissioner Gaurav Gupta shared the state government order describing the functioning of step-down hospitals and the rates at which patients can avail COVID treatment in star hotels and hostels. The COVID patients admitted in one of these hostels and hospitals, which will be close proximity, no more than 500m, of an existing COVID hospital, will be closely monitored, administered prescribed medications, examined and provided with supportive oxygen supplementation.

At what cost?

While the initiative by the state government and BBMP is bound to bring ease to a lot of patients who haven't been able to find a bed during the second wave of the pandemic, one might wonder at what cost. As per the government order, the step-down hospitals will have a ceiling rate of Rs 12,000 per night for a room in a 5-star hotel, Rs 10,000 per night for a 3-star hotel and Rs 8,000 a night for an economy or budget hotel.

"All charges of step-down hospitals shall be displayed and commented to the COVID positive person well in advance and there shall be no scope for any conflict in this regard," the order reads.

The ceiling rates set by the government naturally raise eyebrows, but what's outrageous is the fact that even a 5-star hotel in Bengaluru doesn't charge close to half of the set ceiling. A quick web search for 5-star hotels in the city reveals the average price is about Rs 3,500 a night (plus taxes).

We ran a search for top 5-star hotels in Bengaluru and found them charging a nominal Rs 3,000-Rs 5,000 a night. For instance, Radisson Blu Atria charges around Rs 2,500 per night, Taj Yeshwantpur charges Rs 3,800 a night, ITC Gardenia, which is in the heart of the city, charges around Rs 5,000 a night. The Leela Palace, which is right opposite Manipal Hospital in Bengaluru, charges Rs 6,000 a night and ITC Windsor charges Rs 3,500 per night.

This is just the case of 5-star hotels, while 3-star and budget/economy hotels cost way less. Setting a ceiling of Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 for budget and 3-star hotels raises questions and suspicions. The reason behind such extravagant pricing is hard to contemplate, let alone the cause, which is to treat distressed COVID-19 patients.

BBMP hasn't clarified if the cieling cost for the hotels is just for stay or covers the treatment cost as well. In any case, if it is just for stay, the costs are exorbitant. We have reached out for clarity on the order and the article will be duly updated.