Punjab caps charges for coronavirus tests

Chandigarh, September 23

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The Punjab government on Wednesday capped charges for coronavirus tests at private labs to check profiteering.

Health Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu in a statement said the government has directed that no private lab should charge more than Rs 1,600 (inclusive of GST/taxes, documentation and reporting) for a reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test.

For a TrueNat test, no private laboratory should charge more than Rs 2,000 and Rs 2,400 for CBNAAT (cartridge-based nucleic acid amplification), he said, adding that laboratories have been instructed to display rates in a way visible to people.

Sidhu said any additional cost for the collection of samples from homes is to be fixed by laboratories.

But the lab shall adhere to the guidelines issued by the Punjab government, he said, adding that the decision was taken under the Epidemic Diseases Act, 1897 (COVID-19 Regulations 2020). PTI