Petition: Rt Pcr Test Of Coronavirus Should Be Done For Rs 300, Supreme Court May Hear This Matter

The Supreme Court is likely to hear on Wednesday a fresh plea seeking directions to the Center and states to fix a uniform maximum rate of Rs 300 for RT-PCR test across India.

A three-member bench of Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice L Nageswara Rao and Justice S Ravindra Bhatt will take up for hearing the petition, which has also been requested for early refund of the excess amount recovered for the Kovid-19 investigation.

The plea said that during the second wave, RT-PCR testing could not be done easily in remote areas and even in urban areas and reports had to be waited for three to four days after the samples were taken.

It said that patients with high fever or other symptoms could not go to a private or government center for RT-PCR test, had to wait for two to three days for samples to be taken from home by private laboratories, while the tests were done in the laboratory. The whole process takes one and a half hour.

The petition referred to the apex court’s November 24, 2020 order and said that then the cost of RT-PCR kit was around Rs 200 and now the cost of the kit is around Rs 110 and the cost including all expenses is Rs 150.

Therefore, the rate of RT-PCR test should not exceed Rs 300 including 100 per cent profit margin for private laboratories, it said.

The Supreme Court is likely to hear on Wednesday a fresh plea seeking directions to the Center and states to fix a uniform maximum rate of Rs 300 for RT-PCR test across India.

A three-member bench of Justice DY Chandrachud, Justice L Nageswara Rao and Justice S Ravindra Bhatt will take up for hearing the petition, which has also been requested for early refund of the excess amount recovered for the Kovid-19 investigation.

The plea said that during the second wave, RT-PCR testing could not be done easily in remote areas and even in urban areas and reports had to be waited for three to four days after the samples were taken.

It said that patients with high fever or other symptoms could not go to a private or government center for RT-PCR test, had to wait for two to three days for samples to be taken from home by private laboratories, while the tests were done in the laboratory. The whole process takes one and a half hour.

The petition referred to the apex court’s November 24, 2020 order and said that then the cost of RT-PCR kit was around Rs 200 and now the cost of the kit is around Rs 110 and the cost including all expenses is Rs 150.

Therefore, the rate of RT-PCR test should not exceed Rs 300 including 100 per cent profit margin for private laboratories, it said.