1. ‘hospital’ means any establishment or premises used or intended to be used for the reception or accommodation of persons suffering from any sickness, injury or infirmity whether of body or mind, and the providing of treatment or nursing or both for them, and includes a maternity home, but does not include any hospital or nursing homes, licensed under the Mental Health Act, 1987 (Central Act 14 of 1987), and institutions for the care of mentally retarded persons and leprosy patients, and institutions run by the Government or voluntary organisations for the care of old people and for conducting welfare activities for them.
2. ‘maternity home’ means an establishment where women are usually received and accommodated for the purpose of confinement and antenatal and post-natal care in connection with the child birth or anything connected therewith.
3. ‘Private hospital’ means any hospital other than a hospital belonging to or administered by the Central Government or State Government.
4. ‘private para-medical institution’ includes privately owned clinical laboratory X-ray unit, blood bank, scanning centres, etc., and training centres ²⁰⁷[and Nursing schools] relating to the respective subjects.

²⁰⁷Substituted by Act 13 of 1999.

1. On or after the commencement of this Act, no private hospital or para-medical institutions shall be established within the territorial area of a village panchayat without prior registration in that village panchayat. ²⁰⁸[but nothing in this section shall apply in the case of a private hospital or para-medical institution which is in existence in the territorial area of a village panchayat at the date of the commencement of this Act in that area, within the date as may be by the Government for the purpose.]
2. Every application for registration in respect of a private hospital to private paramedical institution or for the renewal of the registration shall contain such particulars and shall be accompanied by such fees as may be prescribed.

²⁰⁸Substituted by Act 13 of 1999.

²⁰⁹[Any person who maintains or runs a private hospital or a para-medical institution in contravention of the provisions of this Act or without registration under this Act or continue to maintain or run the same after cancellation of registration shall, on conviction, be punished with fine which may extend to five thousand rupees and with a further fine which may extend to five hundred rupees for each day during which the offence continued.]

²⁰⁹Added by Act 13 of 1999.

The village panchayat may collect such annual fees from the private hospitals for any service rendered by it at such rates as may be fixed by them, subject to the rules made by the Government for the purpose but the fees so collected shall be at different rates for private hospitals of different standards.