The Supreme Court on Friday took note of thedifferences in COVID-19 testing charges in various states and asked the centerto fix an upper limit for these tests.
The court told the government that there should be uniformity in the COVID-19 test fee. In some states, it is Rs, 2200 while some states charge Rs. 4500.
The bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, S K Kaul, and M R Shah indicated that the court will not venture into the fixation of the charges which will be taken care of by the Centre.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing thegovernment requested the court to let the states decide the cap on the COVID-19tests. He said, "Better to leave to states, some may be discussing even lowerrates."
The bench, however, turned down his request and said: "You fix the upper limit. States will do rest".
Amid the rise in the number of coronavirus infections in Delhi, the Union Home Ministry on Wednesday revised the price cap on testing for COVID-19 to Rs 2,400. The new price cap for the tests — which till now was Rs 4,500 — was announced following directives by Home Minister Amit Shah to "provide relief to the common man".
