Covid-19 lab at Bengaluru airport denies corruption charges

City-based laboratory Auriga Research, which conducts Covid-19 tests at the Kempegowda International Airport, denied corruption charges levelled against it and said it is ready to face any investigation.

Covid-19 testing at the airport came under fire by MLAs NA Haris and Vinisha Nero during a discussion in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday.

While Haris said travellers were being charged Rs 3,200 for rapid antigen tests (RAT) as against Rs 800 for an RT-PCR, Nero claimed that she had to pay a bribe to the airport officials to get her test report within minutes.

“Our systems are totally transparent and we have been operating on a 24/7 basis since December 2020,” Auriga Research general manager Gautham H said in a statement on Thursday. “We are working very closely with the Airport Community, Police Department & CISF. Any whiff of laxed behavior if at all by any of our employees are dealt with seriously,” the statement said.

Also Read | Bengaluru airport staff take bribe for Covid-19 test: Karnataka MLA Vinisha Nero

The lab said it “immediately cooperated with Health Department officials to audit our facility at any time” and “we are confident that our systems will speak for themselves and are ready to face any scrutiny or investigation.”

Maintaining that Covid-19 test reports are given in the stipulated time, Auriga Research said some passengers get curious when the results are out within 20-30 minutes. “But since there are a lot of VIP customers who travel on a regular basis we would have considered some passengers at priority and given their reports at the earliest possible time,” the lab said.

On pricing, the lab said the cost fixed by the government for an RT-PCR test (result in 4-5 hours) is Rs 800 whereas the Rapid RT-PCR (result in 30 minutes to one hour) is Rs 3,200.

“We were charging Rs 500 for RAT unlike what is being perceived by the [MLA] that we are charging Rs 3,200. It is very much evident that the [MLA] has mistaken Rapid RT0PCR for RAT,” it said, adding that RAT is done only for passengers going to Europe.

“Rapid RT-PCR are cartridge-based RT0PCR tests, which are expensive as the cartridges themselves are expensive. Hence the faster turnaround time at a premium price,” it said and specified that the Rapid test is not mandated by the government and sought only by outbound passengers.

Check out the latest DH videos here: