On Monday, the Supreme Court questioned the central government's approach to setting uniform rates for patient care in private hospitals, pointing out that such pricing should typically be influenced by market dynamics rather than government intervention.

A bench comprising Justice BR Gavai and Justice Sandeep Mehta raised this query as they issued a notice to the government regarding a petition that contests the government's regulations establishing uniform rates for ophthalmological procedures nationwide.

"How can there be uniform rates even in private hospitals? It all depends on market forces. What if there were uniform fees for lawyers appearing here?” asked the Court. 

Senior Advocate Dushyant Dave, representing one of the parties, had previously remarked that the rules were "completely out of hand."

Attorney General for India, R Venkataramani, represented the Central government, while Senior Advocate Maninder Singh appeared on behalf of the Indian Medical Association. Additionally, Senior Advocate Harish Salve appeared for a consortium of private hospitals.

The Bench, addressing the same issue earlier this month had expressed dismay over private hospitals, established on lands acquired at subsidized rates, failing to uphold their obligation to allocate a portion of their beds for the underprivileged.

According to the petition filed by the All India Ophthalmological Society, it argues that rates for specialized procedures should not be uniform across metropolitan cities and small remote villages.

Previously, the top court had issued a restricted notice to the Attorney General regarding the issue and scheduled it for further deliberation on April 17th.

"However, can one contest a policy of this nature? Consider, for instance, that healthcare rates in the northeast are quite reasonable, and such a policy could have adverse effects," Justice Dhulia had commented at the time.

Today, the issue was linked with an existing case that seeks directives to the Union government to establish hospital treatment rates in accordance with regulations outlined in the Clinical Establishments (Registration and Regulation) Act, 2010.