Maharashtra reduces charges for Covid-19 tests by private labs; caps maximum price at Rs 2200

MUMBAI: In a major reprieve to common people, the Maharashtra government on Saturday capped the maximum price for COVID-19 tests (RT-PCR), which is conducted to detect coronavirus, at Rs 2,200. This was announced by Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope.

Tope said that with this move, the cost of RT-PCR tests in Maharashtra has become the lowest, compared to any other state, in the country.

The minister said that private labs had been given permission to conduct RT-PCR tests, for which they were earlier charging approximately Rs 4,500 for reports and extra for home collection of samples. 

He added that the state government was receiving calls from corporations and individuals for reducing the cost of the RT-PCR test. Therefore, the state government formed a committee and after analysis, the price was fixed at Rs 2,200 for the report, Tope said.

Tope added that if the home collection of the sample is done, Rs 2,800 can be charged.

The Health Miniter said that as the price of kits has come down, "the labs should not be profiteering at this point and the safety of the people should be the primary concern."

"This will also lead to savings for the individuals and more people will also get themselves tested," the Minister said.

With 1,01,141 COVID-19 cases, Maharashtra is the worst-affected state by the pandemic in the country. 

This includes 49,628 active cases and 47,796 cured and discharged patients. Moreover, 3,717 deaths have also been reported due to the infection so far from the state, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. 

On June 8, the Tamil Nadu government capped the cost of testing to ₹3,000  and an additional Rs 500 for a home visit. 

The state had also capped the charges for COVID-19 treatment in private hospitals across the state. 

The per-day charges for treatment in Intensive Care Units shall not exceed Rs 15,000 and in general wards, for asymptomatic people and those with mild symptoms, the maximum is Rs 7,500, the government said.

On May 26, the ICMR had removed the price cap of Rs 4,500 for the real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test used to detect COVID-19, and urged the states and UTs to arrive on "mutually agreeable" rates for the test with private labs. 

It had then advised states and UTs to come up with a price cap for COVID-19 testing in consultation with private labs. India has currently tested 55,07,182 samples with 1,43,737 being tested in the past 24 hours.