Businesses accused of charging rip-off fees for holiday coronavirus testing will not be tackled by the competition watchdog until after the summer break.
In a letter to Sajid Javid, the health secretary, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said it would report its recommendations “within the next month”. This is despite Javid asking it last week for a “rapid, high- level” review of “exploitative practices” among providers of private PCR tests.
More than 400 are listed on the government’s website for travellers who are required to organise these tests. All travellers from countries on the green and amber lists must book a test to be taken two days after they arrive in Britain.
Some are charging more than five times the price of a return flight to Europe for each one. Average tests cost about £75 per person — adding £300 to a holiday for a family of four — but some can cost as much as £400 each.
There have also been complaints over those refusing to give refunds despite failing to deliver results on time. Customers have also hit out at Randox, one of the biggest providers of private tests, after pictures emerged of swabs overflowing its drop-off bins on streets.
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The time frame for the watchdog’s investigation provoked a backlash from MPs and travel industry leaders, who said it had ended hopes of a foreign holiday this summer for millions of families unable to afford to go abroad because of the costly PCR tests.
Most schools return in the first week of September, meaning the review will not come in time for most families.
Airlines UK, the trade body, said it was a “lost opportunity”, and senior Conservative MPs urged Javid not to wait for the investigation and take immediate action. The cross-party parliamentary group on coronavirus called on the government to copy other European countries by introducing a cap on the cost of PCR tests.
Huw Merriman, the Conservative MP and chairman of the Commons transport committee, said: “We simply cannot wait a month to fix this inflated and broken market. International comparisons clearly demonstrate that consumers are paying over the odds for PCR testing in the UK. The government needs to immediately intervene. Better still, ministers could drop blanket PCR tests and move to cheaper, but equally reliable, lateral flow tests with only the small minority of positive cases requiring a more expensive PCR test.”
He has written to Javid asking why only a quarter of the 434 PCR test providers in the UK have been approved by the government despite being allowed to advertise their services on gov.uk and reiterating his call for ministers to review their decision to charge 20 per cent VAT on all PCR testing costs.
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Paul Charles, the founder of the PC Agency, a travel PR consultancy, said waiting until next month would be “too late” for both families and companies.
An investigation by The Times this year raised concerns about providers on the government’s lists for travellers. Last week this newspaper reported that fewer than half the companies advertised on the site as selling coronavirus tests for less than £30 were offering them at that price this summer.
The Department of Health and Social Care said that Javid “would not hesitate” to remove companies from the website while he awaited the watchdog’s advice. A spokeswoman said: “Last week the health and social care secretary requested urgent advice from the CMA to help stamp out any exploitative behaviour in the private testing market . . .While we await the advice, the government will continue to ensure testing providers are held to account by the independent United Kingdom Accreditation Service.”
The CMA said: “We are committed to ensuring consumers can access affordable and reliable tests and will respond to the government as a matter of urgency. Any action taken will affect many consumers and businesses, now and in the future, so we need to follow a swift but thorough process that avoids any unintended consequences.”
