RT-PCR cost cut to ₹500 at pvt centres

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government on Wednesday slashed the price of RT-PCR tests — the gold standard in Covid-19 testing — from ₹800 to ₹500, and for the first time fixed the cost of a rapid antigen test (RAT) in Delhi at ₹300.

The cost of home collection of RT-PCR test samples was also slashed from ₹1,200 to ₹700.

Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, while announcing the move on Twitter, said the new rates will help common people, and boost Covid-19 testing in the national capital.

Both types of Covid-19 tests, however, will continue to be offered for free in all Delhi government-run hospitals, centres, temporary facilities and dispensaries, and the reduced rates notified by the city administration on Wednesday will pertain to tests conducted through private laboratories or in private hospitals.

The order, issued by the state health department, said the new rates were applicable with immediate effect, and directed all labs and hospitals to display the reduced prices at “prominent places” within 24 hours.

Covid-19 testing rates were last changed on November 30 last year, when the state capped the cost of an RT-PCR test conducted in a private facility at ₹800, and a home collection at ₹1,200, down from the flat ₹2,400 rate charged before that.

A senior state health official said the order will also help patients being treated in private hospitals who have to mandatorily undergo an RT-PCR test before any medical procedure.

Wednesday’s order for the first time fixes the cost of a rapid test in Delhi. “Until now there was no fixed price of RAT in Delhi. As a result, some private hospitals used to charge up to ₹1,200 per rapid test. The government received such complaints and, as a result, has fixed the rate of a rapid antigen test,” the official quoted above said.

If any facility is found exceeding the government’s rates, the facility will be liable for penal action under relevant sections of the Disaster Management Act and the Indian Penal Code.

The order came days after Pathstore, a French firm and emerging pathology start-up, introduced a Covid-19 RT-PCR test at ₹299. “The precedent was soon followed by the Haryana government, which brought down the cost of an RT-PCR test to ₹299. Now the Delhi government has also brought down the rates,” the company said in a statement.

Anubhav Anusha, global CEO and founder of Genestore and Pathstore France, said, “Amidst the pandemic, the high cost of an RT-PCR test is a major challenge for the economically weaker sections in accessing high quality Covid-19 testing services. We hope other state governments will appreciate the precedent set and introduce similar interventions.”

The decision comes at a time when the Covid-19 caseload in Delhi is at lows not seen since the early days of the pandemic in April last year. On Wednesday, the city reported 67 new Covid-19 cases and zero deaths, according to data shared by the health department. The daily positivity rate stood at 0.09%.