Kerala HC dismisses government RT-PCR price cap order

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday quashed a government order mandating a price cap of ₹500 for all RT-PCR tests for Covid-19. The order comes after laboratory owners protested the government mandating the pricing. Before the government put a cap, a single test would cost an average of ₹1700.

The private lab owners had earlier challenged the order by stating that the state government had no jurisdiction in mandating such a price cap and that such a move was detrimental to the quality of the tests and would incur a heavy loss for lab owners. They also alleged that the government had not even bothered to consult the lab owners before passing an order. Although cheaper tests are available on the market, none had the accuracy or reliability of a proper RT-PCR test, the petitioners said.

Justice T.R Ravi set aside the order while recommending that the government re-negotiate a new price with the private lab owners and take their concerns into account. The Court issued the order in a couple of petitions filed by Accredited Molecular Testing Laboratories and Devi Scans (P) Ltd respectively, seeking to set aside the impugned Government Order.

In July, while hearing the case, the court had asked the government and the Kerala Medical Services Corporation (KMSC) if they could provide raw materials for the test kits at a cheaper rate to the private labs. The KMSC had then said that it can be considered. However, it added that the purpose of setting up the company was to give raw materials to government labs at a reasonable rate, not for the private labs.