NEW DELHI: A PIL was on Tuesday moved in the Delhi High Court seeking a ban on allegedly illegal online health service aggregators from collecting diagnostic samples for testing of Covid-19 infection, saying such entities are “misrepresenting themselves as medical diagnostic laboratories”. The petition, which is likely to be listed for hearing on Wednesday, contended that such health service aggregators pose the “biggest threat to life and safety of the common people”.
The plea by a doctor, Rohit Jain, also seeks directions to the Centre, Delhi government and Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) to issue “guidelines for registration and minimum standards for sample collection centers operated by online aggregators and the minimum qualification for taking samples by representative of aggregators”.
The petition, filed through advocate Shashank Deo Sudhi, further seeks that such aggregators be registered with state pollution control bodies to ensure they comply with the rules for disposal of biomedical waste. Jain, in his plea, contends that there is lack of regulations to control online health service aggregators and their “unfettered operation” through online websites is causing confusion among the general public about their legitimacy and legality.
The petition further claims that many online health service aggregators are operating illegally as they are neither accredited by the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories (NABL) nor approved by ICMR or any other regulatory body.