State government comes up with uniform rate for hiring ambulances

Kolkata: The state government has come up with a uniform rate for hiring ambulances throughout the state for the benefit of the

public in general.

Secretary of Transport department Saumitra Mohan has issued a notification in this regard. “Common people often face harassment due to arbitrary and exorbitant rates charged by the ambulances. The uniform rate would put a leash on such practice. A helpline number will be soon floated where persons can lodge their grievances against ambulances charging more than the rate fixed,” a Transport department official said.

The ambulance services will be available on daily rate, hourly rate as well as on the basis of kilometres covered. Three types of ambulances can be availed that includes air-conditioned one, ambulance with life support system (AC) and ambulance with life support system and ICU facilities (AC). Interestingly, the fares have been fixed on the basis of age of the vehicle.

The normal AC ambulance (aged between 1 to 5 years) if hired on a daily basis will cost Rs 2,577. The one with life support will cost Rs 3,291 and one with life support and ICU will cost Rs 4,485. The rate for the same category will be Rs 1,706, Rs 1,978 and Rs 2,429 respectively if the vehicle is 5 to 10 years old while for those between 10 to 15 years, the fare will be Rs 1,627, Rs 1,859 and Rs 2,245 respectively. Fuel cost for daily basis use will have to be borne by the hirer.

In case the ambulance is hired on hourly basis (6 hrs minimum), the rate for the first type of ambulance will be Rs 440 ( age 1 to 5 years), Rs 330 (age 5 to 10 years) and Rs 320 ( age 10 to 15 years). For the second type, it will be Rs 530 (1 to 5 years age), Rs 360 (5 to 10 years age ) and Rs 350 (10 to 15 years age) respectively. For the ambulance with both life support and ICU, the fare was fixed at Rs 670, Rs 420 and Rs 390 respectively. When the ambulance is hired at per km rate, the price will be Rs 44 (1 to 5 years), Rs 53 (5 to 10 years) and Rs 67 ( 10 to 15 years) for normal AC ambulance. For ones with life support, it will be

Rs 33, Rs 36 and Rs 42. For the one with both life support and ICU facilities, the hiring charge will be Rs 32, Rs 35 and Rs 39 respectively. For both hourly basis and km wise hiring, the price includes fuel cost.

The hiring charges for non air conditioned ambulances will be 10 per cent less. The fare should be charged after completion of the journey.

The state has plans to integrate ambulance services with the Yatri Sathi government app for booking cabs. The online platform for hassle-free and speedy ambulance booking with pre-fixed fares will bring together 15,000 ambulances in the state under a single

platform, allowing users to track the ambulance’s location and choose from various types of ambulances, including those equipped with oxygen and ventilators.