Jalandhar, June 2: Adopting a tough stance against another laballegedly fleecing patients for Covid-19 testing, the District Administrationon Wednesday asked the Police authority to probe the complaint received from ascribe, who had conducted the sting operation at the lab to expose thismalpractice. He also directed to lodge an FIR, if allegations were found to betrue after their investigation.
Divulging the details, Deputy Commissioner Ghanshyam Thorisaid that another complaint against Rattan Labs at Maqsoodan Chowk was receivedfrom Ms. Avneet Kaur, working as Assistant Editor in the media organizationnamely True Scoop. She had visited the lab as a decoy patient and paid Rs. 900for RT-PCR tests, which is around double the fee fixed by the government forthe same. Ms. Avneet Kaur also recorded a video of the whole incident whiletaking feedback from other patients who were present there for the test.
In a letter to Commissioner of Police, Jalandhar, theadministration has asked the matter to be inquired through a senior policeofficer besides registering an FIR against the lab if allegations proved to betrue. Notably, the district administration in earlier such stances had orderedFIR against the erring labs and hospitals for fleecing patients amid thisunprecedented health crisis.
Mr. Thori stated that the state government has fixed Rs. 450for RT-PCR testing and no one is allowed to charge beyond this price adding ifanyone found indulging in malpractices and overcharging would have to facelegal action.
The DC reiterated his commitment to ensuring Covid-19 relatedservices at reasonable prices as fixed by the state government whilecategorically mentioning that any kind of complaint about overcharging andmalpractices would be dealt with a heavy hand. He also appealed to citizens tofile their complaints concerning overcharging and malpractices in Covid-19treatment at helpline number 0181-2224417 so that severest of the action couldbe taken against the erring persons.
Meanwhile, the DC also lauded the efforts of Journalist Ms.Avneet Kaur to expose such malpractices and overcharging amid these tryingtimes while maintaining that such endeavors not only expose such irregularitiesbut also promote transparency in the system.