The private companies have been selling the corona rapid testing kits imported from China to the government at double the price. The Delhi High Court disclosed this matter in a hearing. A petition was filed by the Rare Metabolics Life Sciences Private Limited and Arc Pharmaceuticals companies. These companies are authorised to distribute the rapid testing kits. They have alleged that the Matrix Labs, a company that imports kits from China has breached the written agreement with them.

During the court hearing, Matrix Lab disclosed that they bought the kit from China for Rs 245 per kit. However, Rare Metabolics and Arc Pharmaceuticals were selling the kits to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for Rs 600 per kit, which is more than double the original price. It is estimated that these companies would have benefited more than Rs 18 crore in this scam.

After which, the Delhi High Court stated, “The whole matter is related to the public interest. At this point in time, testing is crucial to control the spread of coronavirus. It is necessary to sell the testing kits at a low price. Companies should focus on providing cheaper kits to the common people in place of making profits.”

Orders have been issued by the court that the testing kits in India will not be sold at a price exceeding Rs 400 (including GST). The Court also stated: “The public welfare is important than the personal gains. As the government has exempted the excise duty on import of this kit, companies should also think of making least profit in this public health emergency.”

The court then dismissed the case keeping the public interest in mind. However, recently, ICMR has imposed a ban on the use of this rapid testing kit as many states had complained that its results were not reliable.

Mailini Aisola, co-convener of All India Drug Action Network (AIDAN) has raised a query against ICMR for this deal. In a tweet, she said: “It’s hard to imagine that ICMR, Delhi was unaware of the profiteering by intermediaries. It would have known Wondfo price of $3/kit, prices of kits from other manufacturers and also prices at which they are being procured. Chhattisgarh has procured at Rs 400.”

Congress has also raised a query against this. In a tweet, Rahul Gandhi, member of the Indian National Congress, said that even when the entire country is fighting the crisis, some people couldn’t stop themselves from making profits. This corrupt mindset is deplorable and disgusting. The country will never forgive them. He demanded Prime Minister Modi to take stern action on profiteers soon. Ahmed Patel, senior Congress leader, and Randeep Surjewala, national spokesperson, also sought clarifications from the government and ICMR in this matter.

On April 27, ICMR while giving clarifications on the matter said, “We tried to procure the kits directly from Wondfo company in China. But, they were asking for the advance payment of the entire sum. They were also not informing us about the delivery of the products. This was why we tried to obtain testing kits with help of the private companies.”

ICMR also stated, “We got four bid offers. Of which, bid offer of Rs 600 was the lowest. This was why we decided to give tender for this kit without giving any advance. We put forth a condition that we would pay them only after the quality checks of the kits. However, as the testing has been unsuccessful and many states have found these unsuitable, we will be returning these testing kits. The government of India has not incurred any losses in this deal.”