BENGALURU: From March 1, there will be uniform pricing at most diagnostic centres in the city. According to association members, after the November 8 demonetisation announcement, diagnostic centres in the city as well as the public were most affected.
“Post demonetisation, there was a huge cash crunch and we witnessed many people returning without conducting the necessary examinations as they did not have cash. To some extent we provided credit. Considering these issues, we all sat together and decided to fix uniform prices with a reduced cost,” he explained.
Though there are 1,000-plus diagnostic centres in the city, those with high-end equipment that offer CT and MRI scans are less than 50.
These are also the major service providers who form part of the association like Elbit, Kanva, Padmashree, Delta, Anand and so on.
The association has also assured that there will no revision of prices for the next one year. Dr Rajeev NC, co-ordinator of the association, said, “As there is no regu``tory authority for us, we are doing self regulation. All the 30-plus member institutes have to submit a letter which would be in the form of undertaking saying the uniform pricing will be there for one year and the same will be revised by the association if necessary.”
Meanwhile, the association said it will also approach government agencies to fix some scientific regulatory norms. “They should regulate us as they did in the stent issue. We are implementing self regulatory measures as far as possible in prices so that common people benefit,” he added.