Multi-City Hospital Chain: 37 Fake Reviews Removed, Rating Restored to 4.2

Over a 4-month period, the hospital chain's three Google Maps listings (covering Delhi, Pune, and Chennai) received 37 negative reviews that followed a suspicious pattern: nearly identical language across different accounts, reviewing periods with no hospital admission records corresponding to the dates, and accounts created within 3-7 days of the reviews being posted with no other activity. The average Google rating across the three locations had fallen from 4.3 to 2.8. The JCI accreditation process flagged "patient satisfaction indicators" as a concern, citing publicly available ratings. Two insurance panel empanelments were deferred pending "quality review."

We conducted a systematic audit of all 37 reviews against the hospital's patient management system. Cross-referencing review dates, descriptions of alleged incidents, and ward identifiers mentioned in reviews against actual admission records established that none of the 37 reviews corresponded to an actual patient interaction. This evidentiary work — producing a patient-record-vs-review discrepancy report — was the foundation of the legal notices. We served IT Act S.79 notices on Google India's Grievance Officer for each of the three locations simultaneously, attaching the discrepancy reports and requesting removal of specific reviews by review ID. We engaged Practo's grievance process with the same documentation. For JustDial, we escalated through their business account manager with formal notice backed by legal counsel.

Google responded within 48 hours of the formal notices and removed all 23 identified fake reviews from the three locations within 14 days. Practo removed 9 reviews and restored the listing's "verified patient" status. JustDial removed 5 reviews and restored the listing. The aggregate Google rating recovered from 2.8 to 4.2 within 30 days as genuine positive reviews from existing patients reflected the restored base. JCI re-evaluated the accreditation application and approved it in the subsequent review cycle. Both insurance panel empanelments were confirmed within 60 days.