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Karntaka MLAs allege corruption in Covid tests at Bengaluru airport, govt denies charge
Authorities at Bengaluru International Airport are trying to profiteer from Covid-19 tests for inbound and outbound passengers, say legislators
Bengaluru: Authorities at Bengaluru International Airport are trying to profiteer from Covid-19 tests for inbound and outbound passengers, legislators alleged in the state assembly on Wednesday. The state government, however, denied the charge.
Vinsha Nero, the sole nominated member in the 225-member lower house of the legislature, said officials in charge of Covid-19 testing at the airport were openly taking bribes for providing results in quick time.
Narrating her own experience, Nero said: “There is a lot of corruption at the airport.”
“I had tested myself in Bowring hospital and went there (airport), they did not scan it and said they won’t accept it. They said that if you pay ₹800, it will take 6 hours. If you give ₹3,200, it will take 2 hours and you won’t miss your flight,” Nero told in the ongoing monsoon session of the assembly.
“There are four to five people (and) they said that if I pay ₹1,200, he (official) will only get me the result. Not even 3 minutes and I paid ₹9,000 in the airport despite of them knowing I am an MLA,” she said.
The statements come at a time when the state government has been trying to closely monitor people entering the state and minimise chances of spreading the virus.
Nero said an official at the airport told her that the staff work only if they are paid.
“Like this in one flight there were more than 100 people who paid ₹3,200 plus ₹1,200 bribe to airport officials. Not even 3 minutes, by the time I walked from corner to entrance, they printed the RTPCR and gave it to me,” she alleged.
The matter came up after NA Harris, the Congress legislator from Shanthinagar, alleged that the airport was forcing passengers to take RAT tests which cost ₹3,200 as against RTPCR which costs ₹800.
He said RAT costs just ₹150-200 outside and officials were forcing people to take tests at the airport at these high prices.
The legislator also referred to Abbott Testing, an express cartridge-based test, in which results are given in 30-40 minutes as against RTPCR which takes at least four to five hours.
Harris said the RAT test itself was being conducted as Abbott tests and fleecing people.
Dr K Sudhakar, minister for health, family welfare and medical education, said there was no rule to take RAT tests and the government has only specified RTPCR. “RTPCR test costs ₹800 and this is given in 4-5 hours,” he said. The minister said only a few Abbott testing was done since it was cartridge-based.
Assembly speaker Vishweshwara Hegde Kageri asked the government to take notice and take action in the matter.
A spokesperson of Auriga Research Pvt Ltd Lab, the company that conducts test at the airport, said: “The prices charged by us are approved by the state government at ₹3,200 for the Rapid RTPCR (reports within 30 minutes to 1 hour) and ₹800 for the RTPCR (reports within 4 to 5 hours).”
“As per the corruption charges, our systems are totally transparent and we have been operating on 24/7 basis since December 2020. We have been giving reports in the stipulated time. Since the Rapid RTPCR are given within 20 to 30 minutes, some passengers feel whether the tests are done or not. But since there are a lot of VIP customers who travel on a regular basis we would have considered some passengers at priority and given their reports at the earliest possible time,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday.
It added that decision of accepting the RTPCR reports was at the discretion of airline operators. “We have seen that RTPCR reports of any lab are accepted by them and passengers only choose our services based on the convenience we offer at the airport.”
