CGHS registration to become online soon

New Delhi: In a major relief to lakhs of Central Government Health Scheme (CGHS) beneficiaries, the government has decided to do away with the offline registration process for registration/renewal of the health cards.

According to official sources, the Health Ministry has decided to make registration/renewal process easier for its beneficiaries by introducing online mechanism rather than submitting documents at the counters meant for the registration process.

The beneficiaries would be allowed to pay their registration/renewal fee using the services like net banking, credit cards, debit cards, payment wallets, etc. The online facilities would also be available for changing clinics (in case of an address change), adding beneficiary members, etc.

"The ministry has signed a memorandum of understanding with Bank of Baroda for the payment gateway. There would be nominal service charges ranging from Rs 15-Rs 20 for availing the online facilities," the source said, adding that the online services would also be available for submitting documents related to reimbursement claims.

Explaining about the development, the source said, "The process is in the final stage and it may be rolled out for the beneficiaries by the end of this month. Given that most of the CGHS beneficiaries are computer literate, they have to just upload their duly filled form with supporting documents verified by the concerned authority at the CGHS website."

"The CGHS officials would ask the beneficiaries to make payments after verifying their documents. In case of incomplete document submission, the concerned beneficiary would be directed to submit the missing papers again," the source said, adding that it would take a few days to get the process done in the fresh case, while the renewal of the card would be done in few hours.

Commenting on the move, a CGHS beneficiary said, "It's a much-awaited landmark initiative. Now people wouldn't have to wait for hours in queues and face the inhuman behaviour of staff at the counter for the work to get done. Now, a beneficiary would not have to return back if he/she fails to reach the centre within the stipulated time or run from one shop to another for getting their documents photocopied."

Earlier, the Centre had relaxed the norm that mandated a CGHS cardholder to take prior approval to undergo treatment in any empanelled private hospital. According to the revised procedure for treatment, the CGHS beneficiaries are now allowed to undergo treatment at private hospitals empanelled under the CGHS of specific treatment procedure listed under CGHS rate list without any permission letter.