(Update 2) Japan to Apply Collective Liability to Operator of Homes for Disabled

   Tokyo, June 26 (Jiji Press)--Japan's welfare ministry said Wednesday that it has decided to apply a collective responsibility system to Megumi Co. under a related law over its irregularities including overcharging, banning renewals of service provider designations for some 100 group homes for disabled people run by the Tokyo-based firm.
   The ministry notified the company and local governments concerned of the decision. The punitive action was based on the comprehensive law on support for disabled people.
   Earlier in the day, the Aichi prefectural government and the city government of Nagoya, the capital of the central Japan prefecture, issued a revocation order for such designations for five Megumi-operated homes for disabled people in Aichi.
   The ministry decided to apply the joint liability system in the belief that there was organized involvement in irregularities committed by the group home operator, such as service fee overcharging.
   The Megumi group homes subject to the designation renewal prohibition are in 12 prefectures--Miyagi in northeastern Japan, Gunma, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Saitama, Chiba and Kanagawa in eastern Japan, Aichi, the Aichi neighbors of Shizuoka and Gifu, Fukuoka in southwestern Japan, and Tokyo. The collective penalty means that the facilities will have to stop operating once their current permits expire. Renewals take place every six years.

(2024/06/26-19:55)

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