Key Challenges Faced By The Senior Living Sector In India

The senior living industry faces challenges due to the increasing demand for services due to the ageing population. Staffing shortages, rising operational costs, and maintaining high-quality care are major issues. Recruiting and retaining skilled workers is a major challenge, leading to increased burnout and turnover. The focus is on creating environments that foster physical, emotional, and mental well-being for residents while managing logistical complexities.

Technological advancements like health monitoring systems and smart home devices can improve care delivery but require significant investment and training. The industry also faces regulatory pressures, emphasizing accountability and transparency in care standards. Balancing these challenges is a constant challenge for the sector.

Affordable Senior Living Facilities

Affordable healthcare is a major challenge in senior living facilities, as private doctors can be expensive and burden the facility's operational costs. Anantharam Varayur, Co-founder of Manasum Senior Living, said that when it comes to affordable Healthcare facilities - Engaging doctors for a regular visit from private hospitals or nursing homes or even private practising clinics is expensive.

A viable solution is to have Public Health Centers (PHCs) visit senior care centers at affordable rates, reducing costs and ensuring residents receive regular medical attention, improving overall care and making it financially sustainable. “If we can have doctors from PHCs visiting senior care centers at affordable prices, it will help the facility,” Varayur said.

Role of Government In Senior Living Landscape

The Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana provides up to Rs 5 lakh in insurance coverage for the elderly, which could be expanded to include a network of local hospitals, he proposed. This would increase access to quality healthcare services, reduce the financial burden on senior living facilities, and make healthcare more accessible and affordable for all elderly individuals.

Key Challenges

Here are some key challenges currently being faced by the senior living sector.

1. Lack of Proper Government Guidelines

The lack of clear government guidelines leads to discrepancies in senior living facility development and operational standards, resulting in varying quality and services across regions, causing confusion and inefficiency.  

"Each builder has come up with their own practical solutions and incorporated them into their senior living facilities based on individual research. However, very few states, like Maharashtra with its MAHA RERA guidelines, have introduced comprehensive and broad-based guidelines for the industry," he said.

2. High Expectations for Health Facilities

Maintaining healthcare facilities that meet high customer expectations without incurring unsustainable costs is challenging, as the cost of delivering services often exceeds service charges, causing financial strain for operators.

"When it comes to health facilities, expectations from customers are very high. Operators trying to manage such medical facilities find it challenging as they may be expensive to run, and the operational costs may not be recoverable from the monthly service charges," he added.  

3. Burden on Service Costs

Service cost allocation issues arise when non-residential owners disagree on cost sharing, complicating charge distribution and causing conflicts between residents and investors. Varayur clarified that "Many people invest in these facilities but do not stay there, leading to confusion about whether the residents have to bear all service costs. Once expenses are divided, non-residents may object to contributing, similar to issues seen with RWA guidelines."

4. Heavy Service Tax

The disparity in taxation between Resident Welfare Associations and senior living operators leads to increased costs for operators and residents, affecting the affordability of these services. "When RWA collects CAM charges, there is no service tax up to Rs 7500.

However, when operators collect CAM charges, an 18 per cent tax is levied from the first rupee. The government should extend a similar exemption to service providers or set a base tax rate of around 5 per cent."

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