Mumbai International Airport Ltd (MIAL), which runs the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, said on December 15 it has reduced the price of the Rapid RT-PCR Covid-19 tests to Rs 1,975 from Rs 4,500 earlier, effective immediately.
The price cut comes after the Maharashtra state government imposed a rate cap for the tests following an outcry by passengers travelling to Mumbai on the tests being overpriced.
"From 15 Dec 2021, the Rapid RT-PCR test at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) will cost Rs 1,975. This is in line with the latest directive from the Government of Maharashtra. The standard RT-PCR test will continue to cost Rs 500," MIAL said in a press release.
Due to the outbreak of the Omicron variant of Covid-19, the central government earlier this month had mandated RT-PCR tests for all travellers arriving from ‘at-risk’ countries.
These rapid kits would give the reports within one hour, unlike the normal RT-PCR tests, which would take more than five hours.
The reduced rates were decided based on inputs from various stakeholders.
Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope had asked IRS officer Dr Sudhakar Shinde to regulate the prices of the Covid-19 tests at the Mumbai International Airport, after multiple requests to MIAL to reduce the price did not yield results. Shinde heads the Maharashtra price regulation committee, as well as Mahatma Phule Jan Arogya Mission.
International passengers at six Indian airports are currently required to pre-book RT PCT tests as per the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) mandate. Pre-booking has been made mandatory at Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad and Kolkata other than Delhi and Mumbai.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra on December 14 reported 684 new coronavirus cases, eight of them infected with the Omicron variant, and 24 fresh fatalities, the health department said.
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