West Bengal reduces RT-PCR test rate to Rs 500

The West Bengal government has slashed the rate of an RT-PCR test by nearly half to Rs 500 from Rs 950, a senior health official said on Friday.

However, the additional charge of Rs 15 per km for home collection of samples remains unaltered, he said, adding that the new rate came into effect from January 27.

"The revised rate will be applicable also to all private laboratories. The cost of reagents has dropped drastically, hence we slashed the charge. An order to this effect has been passed," West Bengal Clinical Establishment Regulatory Commission (WBCERC) chairperson Justice (retired) Ashim Kumar Banerjee said.

The rate of an RT-PCR test in Delhi is Rs 300, while that in Mumbai is Rs 500. West Bengal has tested 2,30,02,149 samples for COVID-19 till Thursday.