KATHMANDU: The Ministry of Health and Food Hygiene has decided to penalize 11 health institutions for failing to clear regulatory dues based on their operational bed capacity.

According to Samir Kumar Adhikari, joint spokesperson for the ministry, the decision targets medical facilities that failed to deposit the mandatory fees required in proportion to their registered number of beds.

He further informed that the ministry has initiated a recovery process to claw back a total outstanding amount of Rs 17,884,000 from the defaulting institutions.

“The ministry has pushed this decision into the implementation phase with a clear objective to ensure good governance, transparency, and legal accountability within the health sector,” Adhikari stated.

The ministry added that the recovery drive was launched directly to address specific financial irregularities and backlogs flagged in the recent report of the Auditor General.