Ranchi: Health minister Irfan Ansari on Friday said the govt will soon introduce a standard operating procedure (SOP) to regulate ICU charges in private hospitals, aiming to ensure transparent billing, standardised pricing and affordable critical care for patients.Ansari told TOI that the proposed SOP is meant to check excessive billing by private hospitals, which he alleged financially exploit patients from low-income families during medical emergencies. He said the health department will begin consultations with managements of private hospitals to work out a mutually acceptable pricing framework.“I will hold talks with managements of private hospitals to fix ICU charges in such a way that they do not incur financial losses and people continue to receive quality healthcare. There are no uniform ICU charges at private hospitals, and they charge exorbitantly, while govt hospitals provide similar facilities for free,” Ansari said.He said meetings with senior health officials will be convened soon to draft the SOP and prepare a mechanism for implementation and enforcement. He claimed Jharkhand would become the first state in the country to introduce a dedicated SOP for regulating ICU charges in private hospitals once the system is put in place.A public relations officer of a private hospital in Ranchi, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said hospitals have not yet received any instruction from the health department on regulating ICU charges.“It is a bit difficult to set standard charges for ICU in all hospitals as the charges depend on factors such as services provided by each hospital, their locations, operational costs, among others,” the PRO added.“Govt hospitals offer treatment at affordable rates, but many people have reservations about the quality of care and often face long waiting times due to the heavy patient load. As a result, they turn to private hospitals, where the high cost of treatment puts a significant financial burden on most families. If the govt fixes a uniform rate for ICU services in private hospitals, it will provide much-needed relief to people,” said Ranchi resident Pradeep Bhatia.