Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Oct 29: The J&K Government today reduced the cost for conducting RT-PCR COVID-19 test to Rs 1,600 from Rs 2,400 by all labs including those privately owned.
“No private laboratory should charge any amount more than Rs 1600 for RT-PCR based test for COVID-19,” a notification issued by the Health Medical Education Department said. It added that the cost includes GST/taxes if any, cost involved in pickup, packing and transportation of samples, documentation and reporting.
The prices of RTPCR test kits and reagents used for COVID tests have come down. Hence, the July order on pricing of the test has been superseded. The maximum price of test will now be Rs 1,600,” said Atal Dulloo, Financial Commissioner (FC), Health & Medical Education Department.
The FC said that another reason behind slashing the price cap of RTPCR based COVID test at private hospitals and diagnostic centres is to make it affordable for the masses. The order will be implemented with immediate effect, he added.
As per the notification, the prices of COVID-19 confirmatory tests through TrueNat and Cbnaat have also been capped at Rs 2000 and Rs 2400, respectively. The prices of these tests also include GST/taxes if any, cost involved in pickup, packing and transportation of samples, documentation and reporting.
Dulloo said that no private laboratory can charge more than fixed price for these tests and action will be taken against those violating the order by charging more than the prescribed fee, under the Epidemic Act.
In the notification, Government has asked the private laboratories authorized to conduct COVID-19 tests to follow all the testing protocols as laid down by ICMR and the Government of India from time to time. The private laboratories have been further directed to share data pertaining to the results of COVID-19 tests with the Government and ICMR on a real time basis through ICMR portal.
The direction has also been passed to note identification, address and verified mobile number of the patient and upload the same on the RT-PCR app at the time of taking the sample. The laboratories have also been asked to share all positive test reports immediately with the Chief Medical Officer of the concerned district through email.
Government has further directed the designated laboratories to display rates in visible manner and maintain the information of the patient with utmost confidentiality. They were further instructed to preserve the RT-PCR machine generated data for future verification by the Government.
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