Karnataka’s health department is considering changes to private hospital dead body release rules after complaints that families are being pressured to pay outstanding amounts before receiving the bodies of relatives who died during treatment. Health Minister U.T. Khader said the government would consult private hospitals and nursing homes before framing new legislation.
Under the existing arrangement, private hospitals can require families to pay a stipulated amount before handing over a body. The health department’s move follows complaints that some hospitals have withheld bodies when families were unable to pay immediately, placing additional pressure on households already facing medical expenses and funeral responsibilities.
Khader said the current requirement was particularly difficult for families facing financial distress. “If someone dies in a private hospital, they have to pay money to get the body. This will be a burden for families facing financial difficulties. The body should not be withheld and families harassed for money,” he said, according to Prajavani.
The minister said laws had been framed in 2007 and 2018 to address the issue, but their implementation had not been adequate. The 2018 provisions allowed private hospitals to take a security deposit and included a provision for registering cases against people who failed to pay hospital charges.
According to Khader, the provision has resulted in families borrowing money to settle bills before they can receive the bodies of deceased relatives. The department is now considering changes to the existing law and will hold discussions with private hospital associations, including the Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes Association, before taking a decision.
The proposed changes concern a recurring administrative conflict in private healthcare: hospitals’ efforts to recover treatment costs and families’ need to receive a deceased relative without delay. The existing framework appears to place families in a difficult position when they have disputed bills, unpaid charges or no immediate access to funds. The minister’s statement indicates that the government intends to revisit both the payment and enforcement provisions rather than rely only on the current rules.
No final amendment, enforcement order or implementation timeline has been announced. The next step will be consultations between the health department, private hospitals and nursing home associations, after which the government is expected to consider a new legal framework for handing over bodies and recovering unpaid hospital charges.
