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Maharashtra slashes Covid-19 test price by 50%, caps it at ₹2,200
Health Minister Rajesh Tope said that in the backdrop of the testing for coronavirus being done in huge numbers and the drop in the prices of the kits used for the test, the decision to reduce the prices of the test was justified.
In a relief to patients, the Maharashtra government on Saturday capped the price for the Covid-19 tests (RT-PCR) by private laboratories at ₹2,200 from the existing maximum price of ₹4,500.
The laboratories can charge up to ₹2,800 in case of the services like swab collection and delivery reports are given at home.
The state’s health minister Rajesh Tope, announced the decision of capping the test price after a committee of senior health department officials submitted its report on the issue.
The decision came on a day when Maharashtra’s Covid-19 tally went past 1.04 lakh.
Tope said the price of the test in Maharashtra is now lowest in the country. The minister said that in the backdrop of the testing for coronavirus being done in huge numbers and the drop in the prices of the kits used for the test, the decision to reduce the prices of the test was justified. He said that the four-member committee had given its recommendation for the revision in the prices after analysing every aspect related to the cost incurred for the test.
“Maharashtra has conducted the highest tests and the count is more than 6.25 lakh tests from 95 testing labs, including 42 private labs, that are operational across the state. The ICMR protocol for the RT-PCR tests remains the same and there would be no compromise on the quality. This has been another decision in the interest of the common public and in the direction of curbing the profiteering,” Tope said.
He said that the home test charges too have been brought down to ₹2,800 from ₹5,200.
Dr Sudhakar Shinde, state health assurance society’s CEO, headed the committee that took all aspects related to the tests into account.
