Archive · 15 Aug 2026
Kerala consumer commission orders nursing agency to pay Rs 24,000
A lady named Sindhu Paul paid a home nursing agency to look after her old mother, who was sick and could not get out of bed.
She paid the agency Rs 20,000 for every 28 days a nurse took care of her mother.
In February 2025, after about six months, the nurse stopped coming without telling anybody.
Sindhu called the agency many times and asked them to send a new nurse.
The agency kept saying someone would come soon, but nobody ever came.
This left the bedridden mother without anyone to care for her.
Sindhu complained to a consumer court in Thrissur, Kerala, which looks into complaints about unfair services.
The court said the agency had failed badly because it took money but did not make sure care continued.
It ordered the agency to return Rs 4,000 and pay Rs 20,000 for the trouble caused, within 45 days.
The court's message is simple: when you pay for care, the company must make sure the patient is never left alone.
The Thrissur district consumer commission held a home nursing agency deficient in service after its nurse abruptly stopped attending a bedridden elderly woman.
Complainant Sindhu Paul said the agency failed to provide a replacement nurse despite repeated requests, leaving her bedridden mother unattended.
The commission ordered the agency to refund Rs 4,000 and pay Rs 20,000 — Rs 15,000 as compensation and Rs 5,000 towards litigation costs — within 45 days.
The nurse discontinued duty in February 2025 during the sixth month of service, without prior notice, after the agency had been paid Rs 20,000 per 28-day period.
The agency did not appear or contest the allegations, so the case was decided ex parte, with the commission calling the failure a 'serious lapse in service.'
- Who
- Sindhu Paul, who filed the complaint for her bedridden mother, and the home nursing agency, with the Thrissur district consumer commission led by President C T Sabu deciding the case.
- What
- The commission ruled the nursing agency deficient in service for failing to replace a nurse who abruptly stopped caring for the bedridden patient, ordering a Rs 4,000 refund and Rs 20,000 in compensation and costs.
- When
- The nurse discontinued service in February 2025 during the sixth month of service; the commission's order was issued on August 6.
- Where
- Thrissur district, Kerala.
- Why
- The agency accepted payment but left a bedridden elderly woman unattended after the nurse quit, failing to provide a substitute nurse despite repeated requests.
- Commission
- Thrissur District Consumer Commission
- Order date
- August 6
- Refund ordered
- Rs 4,000
- Compensation
- Rs 15,000 for deficiency in service and mental agony
- Litigation costs
- Rs 5,000
- Payment deadline
- Within 45 days
- Nurse's remuneration
- Rs 20,000 per 28-day period
- Service discontinued
- February 2025