COVID-19 Tests : Kerala High Court Directs Govt To Consider Private Labs' Objections Against Price Cap
Live LawThe Kerala High Court has directed the Kerala Government to consider the grievances of private laboratories against the November order which capped the price of COVID-19 tests as Rs 1500.A single bench of Justice PV Asha directed the Government to take a decision within 3 weeks from the date of receipt of the. The Kerala High Court has directed the Kerala Government to consider the grievances of private laboratories against the November order which capped the price of COVID-19 tests as Rs 1500. The petitioners also relied on the Supreme Court order in Shashank Deo v Union of India which allowed private labs to charge as per ICMR fixed rates and restricted the coverage of free test to economically weaker groups. The High Court observed that the contentions raised by the petitioners "require consideration by the Government as admittedly,their views are not ascertained before fixing/reducing the rate of charges from Rs.2,100/- to Rs.1,500/-".The Court also noted that before passing the price fixing order in July- which capped the price for RTPCR tests as Rs 2750 - the Government had taken the views of the private labs.