Maharashtra: Government-Run Blood Banks Slapped With ₹12.72 Lakh In Fines For Neglecting Daily Stock Updates, Reveals RTI Inquiry

Mumbai: The State Blood Transfusion Council imposed a fine of over ₹12,72,000 on 93 government-run blood banks between December 2022 to April 2023 for not updating the daily blood stock at MahaSBTC and e-raktkosh portal.

The data was revealed through a Right To Information (RTI) filed by activist Chetan Kothari seeking data regarding penalties imposed on blood banks in the last five months. As per the RTI, RN Cooper blood banks tops the list of penalties in terms of violation. Out of a total 121 days, the blood bank has uploaded its blood stock on e-raktkosh only for 25 days.

E-Raktkosh portal not updated

“The daily stock on e-raktkosh has not been updated 11 times in December 2022, followed by 22 times in January 2023, six times in February, 27 times in March and 30 days in April. All these clearly show that blood banks have not taken GR seriously,” said Kothari.

The public health department had released a government resolution (GR) on December 2 stating that if banks are charging processing fee in excess of the amount stipulated by the National Blood Transfusion Council (NBTC), a penalty of five times the extra processing fee will be levied on the bank.

A senior blood transfusion officer said that often the families of the patients are least aware of the availability of the blood at blood banks. In view of this, the government created the e-blood bank website on which blood banks of all the states have to upload information about their stock. “The basic objective is that whenever a patient needs blood and there is no blood in the blood bank of the hospital, then they can go to thee-blood bank and search in which blood bank the blood is available,” he said.

SBTC must ensure all blood banks upload stocks on a regular basis

The State Blood Transfusion Council (SBTC), which operates blood banks, has to ensure that all the private and government blood banks in the state upload their stock daily. If a blood bank does not upload its stock, a fine of ₹1,000 is imposed on it every day.

“It is mandatory for all blood banks to upload their daily stock. Any blood bank that violates this rule will be fined. Everyone has been instructed to update the stock daily,” said Dr Mahendra Kendra Director, SBTC.