Advertisement

Updated October 4th, 2021 at 12:44 IST

Kerala HC quashes state govt order of reducing COVID-19 RTPCR test prices in private labs

The Kerala High Court quashed the state government order’s on Monday that was issued in May, which reduced the cost of a single RT-PCR test in private labs.

Reported by: Aayush Anandan
Kerala
Image: PTI | Image:self
Advertisement

The Kerala High Court quashed the state government's order on Monday that was issued in May, which reduced the cost of a single RT-PCR test in private labs to Rs 500 from Rs 1,700. The court further asked the Kerala government to hold discussions with the private lab owners and come up with a fair price for all the parties involved.

The High Court's order came after hearing a petition filed by one Accredited Molecular Testing Laboratories and Devi Scans (Pvt) Ltd. The private testing lab asked the court to quash the state government's order and argued that the state government had no powers to fix the rate of the RT-PCR tests in private laboratories. The petition further claimed that for an appropriate RT-PCR test, it would cost the laboratory approximately Rs 1500 and said that if the cost is reduced to Rs 500, it does not only drastically affect their business, it also would hamper the quality of the RT-PCR tests.

As per the petitioner, the test is required by several individuals for travel purposes and people prefer private labs for RT-PCR due to the accuracy of the tests. In such cases, the accuracy of such tests cannot be compromised as people travel in and out of the country based on these tests.

The state government argued that other states are offering the same tests at lower rates. To counter the petition, the Kerala state government further said that the cost of the equipment involved in RT-PCR tests had drastically come down over the past few months and other states have been conducting the tests at much lower rates than the Rs 1500 claimed by the private lab. The state government further said that private labs in states like Maharashtra, Uttarakhand and Punjab were charging between Rs 400-550 for each RT-PCR test.

The COVID-19 situation in the country

According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, in the last 24 hours, India reported 20,799 new COVID-19 infections and 180 deaths. The active caseload in India is at 2,64,458, the lowest level in the recent 200 days. Active cases make up less than 1% of total cases, with 0.78 % being the lowest level since March 2020. The current recovery rate is 97.89%, which is the highest since March 2020.

(with ANI inputs)

Advertisement

Published October 4th, 2021 at 12:44 IST

Your Voice. Now Direct.

Send us your views, we’ll publish them. This section is moderated.

Advertisement
Advertisement

Trending Quicks

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Whatsapp logo