Concerned over the spurt in consumer complaints accusing hospitals of keeping them in the dark about expenses, the commission has also asked medical facilities to give a minimum estimate of treatment at time of admission.

“Basic expenses for every disease and its treatment should be displayed outside for the information of each and every patient, so that they may know at the time of admission whether they have the capacity to get the treatment in such a hospital or nursing home or not,” the commission said.

Noting that pamphlets often published by hospitals served no purpose as far as a consumer’s knowledge regarding possible treatment cost was concerned, commission president Justice J D Kapoor said that in such cases, they may be asked to compensate for their “unfair trade practice”.