South Africa's two biggest private laboratories agreed to reduce the price of the Covid-19 PCR test from R850 to R500, with smaller laboratories expected to follow suit, the Competition Commission said on Sunday.

The commission launched a probe into Covid-19 test pricing in October. The investigation found that pricing still remained high despite decreasing costs for the laboratories, which continued to rake in huge profits from an essential service.

Commissioner Tembinkosi Bonakele said even though there had been a price reduction from at least R1 000 during the onset of the pandemic to R850, the pricing was excessively high.

"The investigation also revealed that the pathology groups have been earning significant profits since March 2020, especially in the current financial year to date. Firms are able to exploit consumers by excessively charging on an essential service.

"We expect other stakeholders, including PathCare, to come forward. We got reports that there are many other small laboratories that are not part of this litigation, and as of yesterday, they charge at least R1 000. We call on them to come forward and offer a price of below R500 per test, including VAT."

Medical aid schemes were also expected to follow suit on the latest price reduction.

Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests are an acceptable standard for Covid-19 testing, especially for international travelling and hospital procedures.

The laboratories submitted financial statements and detailed Covid-19 testing costs during the investigation.

After evaluating the financials, the commission decided to set the price at R500, said the commission's chief economist James Hodge.

He said: "What is important to state is that these consent agreements also require that the pathologists provide us with changes in cost and the pricing, so that if we must, we can further assess whether a further reduction is required... so it will be an ongoing monitoring process, but at the moment we are comfortable with that."

Regarding laboratories that still charge more despite the price reduction that took effect on Sunday, Bonakele advised the public to report them to the commission.

"Firstly, the medical scheme groups will pass this saving to their members. We expect that everyone will fall in line due to the domino effect of this agreement. If it is not the case, we would like to know. I think it would be great if people let us know if there are instances where they feel they have been overcharged for these tests."

Asked whether the laboratory companies would be fined for high pricing, Bonakele said the immediate goal was to secure a reduced price for consumers and help fight the pandemic.

"We could have decided to pursue these companies in order to level a fine against them. That was one of the options on the table. We decided against that because we felt what was more important was an immediate price reduction. A full investigation of the excessive pricing, which is difficult to prosecute, would have taken us a year. It took some compromising for us to get to the price," he said.

For complaints about high testing costs, email the commission on ccsa@compcom.co.za or send a text to 084 743 0000.