By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Competition Commission Tribunal has announced that an agreement has been reached with Ampath and Lancet laboratories regarding the price of a Covid-19 PCR test.
Commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele said during a virtual media briefing that both agreed to reduce the price from R850 to no more than R500, including VAT, effective immediately.
“The Competition Tribunal upon application by the parties has confirmed the groundbreaking agreement between the Competition Commission and each of the two largest private pathology laboratories in South Africa. The agreement settled a dispute on the pricing of Covid-19 PCR tests,” Bonakele said
Bonakele said the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test for Covid-19, which is done in a lab, was critical during the pandemic especially as more companies and higher learning institutions require unvaccinated people to take the test, at their own cost, in order to continue to gain access to their premises.
“The PCR Covid-19 test has become essential in the fight against Covid-19, whilst there are other forms of testing, PCR tests are required by doctors and various institutions,” he said.
The commission said in a statement on Saturday that a formal complaint was lodged by the Council for Medical Schemes against private pathology laboratories, alleging that the price for supplying PCR tests for Covid-19 was “unfairly inflated, exorbitant and/or unjustifiable”.
Between September and October 2021, the commission was alerted via a number of meetings and telephonic discussions, including with the health department and healthcare funders, of complaints about the pricing and how it was affecting vulnerable consumers and customers.
“In the main, it was alleged that private pathology laboratories have experienced substantial cost reductions in conducting Covid-19 PCR tests and were processing significant volumes (especially during infection waves), yet the price charged by the private pathology laboratories for tests remained persistently high and unchanged at R850,” the commission said.
The announcement comes as companies and universities increasingly introduce vaccine mandates, where people who choose not to be vaccinated against Covid-19 have to have regular Covid-19 tests, at their own cost, to maintain access to work and institutions.
According to the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, a total of 20 176 391 tests had been conducted by the time of its Saturday report.