Sadananda Gowda's brother Bhaskar Gowda died at the Kasturba Manipal hospital in Mangaluru.
Union Minister Sadananda Gowda witnessed first-hand the challenges faced by many after his government's notes ban, as a private hospital in Karnataka didn't accept old notes as payment for his brother, who died on Tuesday.
Mr Gowda's younger brother Bhaskar Gowda, 54, died on Tuesday at the Kasturba hospital in Mangaluru, 10 days after he was brought in with severe jaundice. When Mr Gowda's nephew tried to pay the bill - Rs 40,000 - in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes that were banned on November 8, the staff said private hospitals can't accept them.
An upset Mr Gowda finally paid by cheque but also asked the hospital to give in writing that it had refused to accept old notes.
"One should be able to give old notes to hospitals and since this is not happening, it is becoming very difficult and it is causing inconvenience to patients," Mr Gowda, the Minister for Programme Implementation, told reporters.
"In such a situation, where the government has made a decision, there should be consideration for patients. This step has done nothing but has resulted in a lot of inconvenience to the public at large. I have asked them to give it to me in writing, the kind of inconvenience that was caused to them," he added.
The hospital's top executive Saghir Siddiqui told NDTV: "Our staff told them we cannot accept the demonetised notes. He asked for this in writing and we have given a written statement saying that we are strictly following the guidance issued by the union government and the RBI."
After the currency ban, the government said old notes would be accepted for a limited period at designated places including government hospitals and clinics.
Private hospitals were left out to stop their misuse for routing untaxed or black money. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has ruled out any review of that rule.