Telangana Cancels Licences of 2 Fertility Centres, Suspends 9 After Inspections

Telangana health authorities have detected regulatory violations at 50 private fertility centres across the state following inspections of 379 facilities, leading to the cancellation of registrations of two centres and the temporary suspension of permissions for nine others.

Health Minister C. Damodar Raja Narasimha reviewed the functioning of government and private fertility and IVF centres at the Secretariat in Hyderabad on Monday and directed officials to take strict legal action against centres breaching statutory regulations.

The enforcement drive was launched to assess compliance with Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and surrogacy laws. During the checks, authorities uncovered multiple infractions, including unauthorised changes in staff, improper maintenance of records, failure to display registration certificates, and the absence of required grievance redressal cells. In some cases, centres were found operating from addresses different from those registered with official authorities.

Commissioner of Health and Family Welfare Sangeetha Satyanarayana informed the Minister that show-cause notices were issued to facilities where deviations were detected, with penal action initiated based on the severity of each violation.

Minister Raja Narasimha directed health officials to ensure that ongoing inspections rigorously verify staffing details, registration status, record-keeping protocols, and grievance mechanism functionality. He also ordered inspections into the medicines and injections administered at fertility clinics, directing authorities to scrutinise manufacturers and ensure compliance with maximum retail prices.

According to official data shared during the review, Telangana has 477 registered ART and surrogacy facilities. These include 129 ART Level-1 centres, 226 ART Level-2 centres, 59 ART banks, and 63 surrogacy clinics.

The review also evaluated fertility services at state-run institutions, including Gandhi Hospital and the Modern Government Maternity Hospital in Petlaburj. The two state facilities have collectively provided fertility-related medical services to 39,802 patients, performing 20,185 follicular studies, 521 intrauterine insemination procedures, and 545 IVF cases. The Minister instructed officials to draft proposals to expand public IVF services to district hospitals in a phased manner.