New Delhi: The average costs consumers pay for medical diagnostic tests vary widely across the country with maximum costs touching five times the minimum for some tests, the Economic Survey for 2017-18 has said, highlighting the need for standardised rates.

The Survey, tabled by the Centre in Parliament on Monday, has also pointed out that these "wide differences" in prices of medical diagnostic tests exist amid "scanty" data on the quality and accreditation of diagnostic clinics in the country.

In a section on human development, the Survey has cited commercial data from dozens of cities across India highlighting the cost variations. The minimum average price of a liver function test pooled from 117 cities, for instance, is Rs 210 while the maximum is Rs 1,186.

The analysis has also found dramatic differences between the minimum and maximum prices. A 2D echo test - an ultrasound scan to assess the heart functions - is available for a minimum price of Rs 500 and a maximum of Rs 5,200. The average minimum for 2D echo is Rs 856 and maximum Rs 2,412.

The Survey - an annual overview of the nation's economic development and related issues - has said the price variations underscore "a need to prioritise standardisation of rates by devising (an) appropriate quality assurance framework and regulatory mechanism".

Under the Clinical Establishments Act passed in 2010, all clinics, including medical diagnostic centres, are expected to charge prices for medical procedures and diagnosis within a range of rates determined by the Centre in consultation with the state governments.

Public health specialists campaigning for tighter regulations on the prices of medical services say moves initiated by the government to set rates for medical procedures and tests appear to have stalled under pressure from the private medical sector.

"I wouldn't hesitate to say: what we're seeing is deliberate sabotage of moves to regulate prices," said Pune-based Abhay Shukla, a physician and community medicine specialist and national convener of Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, or People's Health Movement, a non-government organisation.

Shukla said the government had in 2014 asked a panel of experts to develop a methodology to work out rates of various medical procedures and diagnostic tests. "The panel had initiated this exercise and even proposed a rate calculator taking into account various costs, including land costs - but the effort appears to have stalled," he said.

Health officials have in the past said the Centre expects the states to implement the clinical establishment act.

Healthcare industry executives say the variations in the prices of diagnostic tests are likely to be associated with the quality of the services available to consumers. The Association of Healthcare Providers of India (AHPI) estimates that India has about 150,000 diagnostic centres, including pathology laboratories and radio-diagnostic centres.

But only about 900 pathology laboratories and 60 radio-diagnostic centres have accreditation from the National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories, said Girdhar Gyani, director general of the AHPI.

"The NABL accreditation is a stamp of quality and we're hoping more and more laboratories take it up," Gyani said.

But, he added, only an estimated 10,000 diagnostic centres across India appear ready to take up NABL accreditation. The vast majority of diagnostic centres, including many "collection centres" are not yet ready, he added.