NEW DELHI:
The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought the Centre’s response to a PIL which sought capping of RT-PCR test for
Covid-19 at Rs 400 for both government and private labs and hospitals, saying the cost of the kits have come down to Rs 200 now.
Petitioner Ajay Agrawal told a bench, headed by
CJI SA Bobde, that while in Delhi RT-PCR test costs around Rs 2,400, it varied from Rs 900 (in Haryana) to Rs 3,200 (
Meghalaya) in other states. “There is a big loot by the laboratories and they are minting money to the tune of crores. The margin of profit is as high as 1400% in
Andhra Pradesh and 1200% in Delhi. The RT-PCR kits are available for less than Rs 200 in the Indian market. There is no other cost involved in conducting the test,” he said.
The bench sought response from the Centre in two weeks and tagged it along with another PIL filed by one Sachin Jain.He had sought affordable health care and curbing the private hospitals’ tendency to exploit the situation by overcharging patients.