Coronavirus outbreak: Cost accountants' institute offers cost audit service to ICMR

Amid the rising number of coronavirus cases in the country, the Institute of Cost Accountants of India has offered cost audit service to ICMR to help in getting a clearer picture about costing of coronavirus tests.

The institute, which comes under the corporate affairs ministry, has around 70,000 members.

In a letter to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Monday, the institute said it was ready to offer on a voluntary basis cost audit service with regard to costing of the coronavirus tests to be carried out by the government or private pathological laboratories.

"We understand that the recommendation of ICMR to put a cap of Rs 4,500 for one of the coronavirus test protocols has been challenged in the Supreme Court of India and the apex court has ordered to make all coronavirus tests free of cost.

"However, there has been resentment in the healthcare firms involved with such tests and they have termed the ruling as impractical to implement due to costing issues," the letter said.

On Monday, the Supreme Court modified its April 8 order which asked private labs to conduct free Covid-19 tests and said the benefit would be available only to economically weaker sections who are covered under a government scheme such as the Ayushman Bharat.

At least 339 people have died due to coronavirus infections and the total number of positive cases in the country jumped to 10,363 on Tuesday, as per the Union Health Ministry.

"The challenge for any country around the world today is to carry out coronavirus tests for its population at an affordable cost. The challenge is particularly acute given the rising cost of resources involved with the testing protocols," the institute said in a release on Tuesday.

It has also written to ICMR offering its services on a voluntary basis, the release said.