Rate for Covid test at private labs reduced

With the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) removing the price cap on Covid swab tests, the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has reduced the rates of Covid

With the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) removing the price cap on Covid swab tests, the Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) has reduced the rates of Covid testing in all private labs. The rates are reduced from ₹4,500 to ₹3,000 after a meeting held with the lab representatives and the corporation. TMC wanted the rates to decrease to ₹2,000, however, after a day-long meeting the rates were fixed at ₹3,000.

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On Tuesday, ICMR removed the price cap of ₹4,500 for real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test which is used to detect Covid-19. Now, the states have been given a free hand to negotiate with the approved list of laboratories and fix the cost. The decision was taken as testing capacity and infrastructure have improved significantly while the dependence on imported kits has also become negligible because of an increase in domestic production.

A TMC official said, “We had send them a letter asking to reduce the rates, however the labs were not ready to reduce the rates. On Thursday a meeting was held with the labs and the labs were also kept shut for the day. We have convinced them to reduce the rates.”

Civic commissioner Vijay Singhal has confirmed that the rates have been reduced from ₹4,500 to ₹3,000 for testing in any of the private labs in Thane.