THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Private lab owners have decided to moved the High Court against the state government’s order to slash Covid test rates. They alleged the new rates announced on February 9 would wreck their business. The health department slashed the rate of RT-PCR test from Rs 500 to Rs 300 and rapid antigen test from Rs 300 to Rs 100.
“The government order is against the HC verdict that rates should be fixed only after consultation with lab owners. So, we will file writ and contempt petitions against the government’s order. Another case related to the test rates is pending before a single bench,” said C Balachandran, MD of Jeeva Specialty Laboratory, and a member of Accredited Molecular Testing Laboratories.
The lab owners had previously challenged the decision to cap RT-PCR rates at Rs 500 in April last year. An HC single bench set aside the order on October 4 and reinstated the earlier rate of Rs 1,700. However, the government approached the division bench which transferred the matter to a single bench.
In the meantime, the department held discussions with the representatives of lab owners, but decided to keep the RT-PCR rate at Rs 500 in November as it found that the demand for higher rate was not tenable in the wake of reduction in prices of test kits and consumables.
“A bulk purchaser buying 1 lakh kits gets them for Rs 100 per piece. But a small lab purchasing 100 kits gets them for Rs 250 per piece. The government decision will favour big laboratories who can provide cheaper tests, not small labs,” said Medical Laboratory Owners’ Association state president Bejoy V Thomas.