A notice was served on Square Hospitals Limited and Apollo Hospital on Sunday, asking them to stop collecting Value Added Tax (VAT) from patients within the 24 hours as per the High Court directive. Earlier on July 14, The HC declared illegal the imposition of VAT on citizens for providing health services to them.

It also declared illegal and unconstitutional the provisions of Value Added Tax (VAT) Act, 1991 for realising VAT from patients for making any prescription or doing pathological tests for treatments. The HC came up with the verdict upon a public interest litigation filed by advocate Manzill Murshid and others.

Advocate Manzill on Sunday sent the notices to the hospitals authorities, stating that if the vat collection is not stopped within the next 24 hours, legal steps will be taken against them. Manzill Morshed also annexed a copy of the HC judgment with notice. Manzill told The Daily Star that he will take legal actions against other big private hospitals and clinics in the capital to stop VAT collection from patients.

-Daily Star