The Centre had fixed a price cap of Rs 4,500 on each test for the 65 private labs approved across 12 states. (Express photo by Prashant Nadkar)

DAYS AFTER the Supreme Court ordered private laboratories to provide COVID-19 testing free of cost, the Centre has assured the labs that it will take up the matter in the apex court in a way that protects “all interests”, sources told The Indian Express.

Following last week’s order, private labs called upon the government to “come up with modalities” so that their service “remains sustainable”.

Sources said the government “recognises the need for liquidity to keep private laboratories afloat” and understands the pitfalls of a universal free testing rule for COVID-19.

The Centre had earlier fixed a price cap of Rs 4,500 on each test for 68 private labs in 12 states that were approved.

Dr Arvind Lal, managing director of Dr Lal Pathlabs, who has been holding talks with the government on behalf of the private labs, told The Indian Express, “The government has told us they are working on it and they will go to court on this.”

He said, “They (government) have been given 15 days to reply. I understand they will reply sooner rather than later. They told us, ‘You should not worry. We will represent our interest in court’. They said that currently our interest and their interest is the same and this time we are on the same side.

“They will represent us, too. We are currently doing the tests for free. When we run out of money, we will stop.”

On Saturday, a Delhi-based doctor, Kaushal Kant Mishra, moved the Supreme Court, seeking modification of its April 6 direction that COVID-19 tests should be free in both private and government labs. In his plea, Mishra urged the court to allow private labs to do the tests at the rate fixed by the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), with exception to provide free testing for people from Economically Weaker Sections, which should be reimbursed by the government.

Sources said the government is banking on the reach and efficiency of the private sector to reach its goal of 1 lakh tests a day. Moreover, after the decision to include testing and treatment for COVID-19 under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana —- tertiary care arm of Ayushman Bharat —- it is felt that the “rich can afford” to pay Rs 4,500 for the test, which would mean that much load off the already overstretched government laboratories. Even that number in effect may be too small to make any powerful case for free testing, sources said.

Dr Naveen Dang, director, Dr Dang’s Lab, said: “It (free testing) is indeed an unsustainable model, but for the last three days we have been testing for free. We have done about a hundred tests… we agreed to Rs 4,500, knowing that even then we would take some losses. The actual costs are closer to Rs 5,000, but we agreed in national interest. But we cannot take this below-the-belt hit (free testing). Nobody can keep spending from their own pocket. Let’s hope we get some relief.”

At present, 151 labs in the ICMR system are testing for COVID-19, and the testing output of private labs has not picked up yet. For instance, official figures show that out of 16,564 samples tested on April 10-11, 14,210 were scanned in government facilities.