India’s national standards body has introduced a uniform but voluntary hospital bill format to provide patients a clearer disclosure and itemised breakdown of charges amid long-standing concerns about high opacity levels in hospital bills across the country.

The format for hospital bills, applicable to all healthcare institutions, including hospitals, nursing homes, diagnostic clinics and outpatient clinics, seeks to establish a common benchmark for clarity and accountability in billing, the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) said.

The new Indian Standard (IS-19493:2025) for hospital bills comes against the backdrop of widespread public concern about inconsistent and unclear billing practices by hospitals which, the BIS has said, contributed “to confusion, disputes and diminished accountability”.

The bills will need to provide a breakdown into components such as room rent, doctors’ fees, medicines and diagnostics. Consultation charges for doctors, for instance, need to be itemised by doctor and date, while surgery charges would need to be broken down into surgeon’s and anaesthesia charges, operation theatre charges, and any other charges billed. Diagnostic charges would need to specify each test charged and medicine prices should specify the quantity and charge of each medicine.

Institutions that adhere to BIS guidelines are often viewed more favourably in the market and tend to command higher value.

The BIS said the standard seeks to facilitate easy understanding of charges for patients through a consistent and user-friendly billing format and to standardise billing formats across healthcare organisations to minimise discrepancies and disputes.

A nationwide survey conducted in April 2024 by an online social media platform found that more than half of respondents had not received itemised details of services, facilities, or consumables charged in their hospital bills.

Only 47 per cent of some 12,000 respondents from over 300 districts had received bills showing the charges broken up across services, facilities, and consumables, the survey by Local Circles had found. About 10 per cent had said their bills lacked details, but the charges were labelled as “package charges”.

The standard format will require hospitals to provide package details. The bills would also need to show the total amount, discounts or concessions, advance amounts paid, payment modes and receipt numbers.

“The standards are voluntary for now — but over time, they are expected to become mandatory,” said Sachin Taparia, founder of Local Circles.