Blinkit changes 10-minute ambulance pricing: Here's when you will have to pay ₹2,500

Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal on Thursday announced that Blinkit will charge ₹2,500 for non-emergency ambulance transfers to discourage its use for routine medical visits and hospital transfers, which could otherwise be handled by private transport.

Under the revised policy, emergency transfers will continue to be free, while non-emergency transfers will attract a charge of ₹2,500, payable after the trip.

The amount is broadly in line with what private ambulance operators charge and will go to Eternal Foundation, which runs the ambulance service, Goyal said.

The announcement came after an X user credited a Blinkit ambulance with saving his grandmother's life, saying it reached their home in eight minutes and promptly took her to the emergency ward.

"In the last 2 years, we have served ~20,000 emergency cases (~42,000 cases in total). We haven't charged a single rupee for any of them. And we want to keep it that way," the entrepreneur posted on X.

He said that with the service being entirely free so far, a growing share of bookings were being made for routine checkups, hospital visits and hospital-to-home transfers.

"Every such booking keeps a fully equipped emergency ambulance with paramedics off the road when someone's life may depend on it," he said.

Goyal expressed hope that the new charge would substantially reduce the use of ambulances for non-emergency purposes and ensure their availability for critical cases.

"10-minute ambulances have saved and can save thousands of lives, and we need to keep them available for emergencies that need them the most," he said.

Goyal also said the biggest challenge in scaling up the service was the availability of trained and empathetic paramedics.

“Our training academy is scaling as fast as we can without compromising on quality, and @albinder and team are committed to bringing Blinkit Ambulance to all major cities in India in the next 2-4 years,” he wrote.

The quick-commerce platform had said users in serviceable areas could book ambulances through its app.

The ambulances are equipped with Basic Life Support (BLS) systems and essential medical equipment, including oxygen cylinders, automated external defibrillators (AEDs), stretchers, monitors, suction machines and emergency medicines.

Each ambulance is staffed by a paramedic, an assistant and a trained driver.