Profiteering during a pandemic

Profiteering during a pandemic

Context

The nationwide lockdown phase witnessed an exponential rise in prices of essential items like masks and sanitizers across the country.
With the rise in the number of cases, there have been reports of private hospitals overcharging patients, even after state governments capped COVID-19 treatment charges. In some private hospitals, patients have been asked to pay lakhs even before being allotted beds.
The cost of medicines like Remdesivir has also shot up leading to a situation where the poor have been unable to afford the essential medicines.
There have been reports of overcharging by the ambulance owners too in these pandemic times.
Buses operated by private agencies have charged exorbitant fares from poor migrants looking to go back to their native places.

Epidemic Diseases Act:

The British enacted the Epidemic Diseases Act in 1897 empowering the government to implement any measures that would prevent the outbreak or spread of any disease.
According to the law, anyone disobeying the orders of any public servant can be punished under Section 188 of the Indian Penal Code.
However, the provisions of the Epidemic Diseases Act in 1897 seem insufficient to effectively curb the economic exploitation of the common man during the pandemic crisis.

Way forward:

The article argues in favour of incorporating a provision in the Disaster Management Act of 2005 to make overcharging the public a punishable offence.
Denying admission in hospitals, refusing to bury the dead in cemeteries, etc. need to be made punishable offences.

Source: TH