Govt Caps RT-PCR Rate At ₹300, Home Collection At ₹500

 Govt Caps RT-PCR Rate At ₹300, Home Collection At ₹500

Testing At Govt Centres Stays Free

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Sidhartha.Roy@timesgroup.com

New Delhi:The Delhi government on Thursday slashed the maximum price of RT-PCR tests at private laboratories from Rs 500 to Rs 300 and reduced the cap of Rs 700 for home collection and tests to Rs 500. The maximum rate for rapid antigen tests (RAT) at privateen fixed at Rs 100 instead of Rs 300. Tests conducted at government establishments remain free.

Government sources said the decision had been taken to help Delhiites and also increase the number of tests. A further reduction is possible soon, a source added. The order comes into effect immediately and all charges are inclusive of all taxes.

Private laboratories will also collect samples from testing sites as requisitioned by the chief district medical officer or a government hospital, states the order issued by the health department. In case the RT-PCR samples are collected by government teams and picked up from the collection sites by private laboratories as requisitioned by the district authorities, the charges will be Rs 200, and if samples are col- lected by private laboratory teams for government and processed at their labs, the maximum charge will be Rs 300.

The RT-PCR test at Genestrings Diagnostics, which operates the Covid testing labat the Delhi airport, will also cost Rs 300 following the order. “(There is) no (further) change in rapid RT-PCR test price since the re- cent reduction from Rs 3,500 to Rs 2,900,” Genestrings Diagnostics COO Chetan Kohli said.

The government order also states all laboratories will process the samples within 12 hours, with all positive results being updated on the portal of Indian Council of Medical Research within 30 minutes of samples being processed, followed by updation of all negative results within 24 hours of receiving the samples.

The order also directs all laboratories and hospitals to display the revised rates at a prominent place within 24 hours.

The government had capped the maximum price of RT-PCR at Rs 2,400 in June 2020, then slashed it to Rs 800 in November 2020 and further to Rs 500 last August.