Supreme Court notice on plea to cap costs of RT-PCR test

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notices on a plea to cap the prices of the RT-PCR tests for COVID. A petition claimed that though the costs of such tests are not more than Rs 200, labs are charging exorbitant rates for them and that the court could do well to fix them at Rs 400.

The petition has been filed by advocate Ajay Agrawal. A three-judge bench led by CJI S.A. Bobde issued the notices today to the Union, through the Cabinet Secretary, and the Health Secretary.

The notices are returnable in 2 weeks. The petition accused vested interests of profiteering off the misery of the people .


These tests range in many states and UTs anywhere from Rs 900 to Rs 2800, the petition said. In some instances, the profit margin was as much as 1400 % as in case of Andhra Pradesh and 1200% in case of Delhi, it alleged.