Karwar: In a major move to bring order and accountability to ambulance services across Karnataka, the State government will soon regulate all ambulances under the Karnataka Private Medical Establishments (KPME) Act.Health and Family Welfare Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said on Wednesday that a Bill to this effect will be introduced in the upcoming session of the Legislature. Once the law comes into force, ambulance operators and mobile health units will be required to register under the Act, similar to private hospitals.Speaking to reporters in Karwar, the Minister said that several complaints had been received about the quality and standards of ambulance services currently operating in the state. “We are framing a law to prescribe norms for ambulances, the facilities they should have and to fix uniform tariffs. Once implemented, ambulance service providers and mobile health units will also have to register under the KPME Act, just like private hospitals,” he said.Ambulances registered under the Act will have tariffs fixed on the basis of the services they provide. People will be able to book ambulances through a mobile application, which will bring transparency to the system, he added.The State government has decided to take over the 108 ambulance service completely. “A pilot project has already begun in Chamarajanagar district. Next month, control rooms will be set up in every district and 108 services will be managed by government officials,” he said.
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