Consumer watchdog Which? continues to have concerns about the problems facing travellers buying Covid-19 tests, with issues such as misleading pricing still apparent.
Neena Bhati (pictured), head of campaigns at consumer body Which?, told MPs on the transport committee that the recent shift to antigen tests instead of more expensive PCR versions has made complying with travel rules “easier, simpler and cheaper”.
“However, we still have concerns that the lessons from that PCR testing market have not been learnt,” she said.
“We are still seeing issues like misleading pricing in the antigen market and with providers on the gov.uk list.”
In August, the government pledged to crack down on ‘cowboy’ Covid test providers on the gov.uk website, and Competition and Markets Authority began an inquiry into ‘rip-off’ charges.
She said Which? has monitored the market since testing requirements were introduced in May, adding that PCR tests on the gov.uk website had ranged in price from £1 to £399 and antigen prices from £1 to £49.
“How is the consumer supposed to make informed decision?” she asked. “There needs to be enhanced regulation.”
She added: “A lot of the issues and the point around pricing could have been preventable with checks before providers were put onto the (gov.uk) list.
“We saw rogue providers gaming the system for most of the summer.”
Bhati said the government is now better at taking providers off the list but added: “We want to see more checks done at the beginning rather than trying to get rogue providers off when consumers have already been impacted by them.”
Committee member Ben Bradshaw MP said he had experienced problems with tests recently, with reference numbers not coming through on time or not being compatible with UK government Passenger Locator Forms (PLFs), or tests not arriving on time.
Jenny Willott, chair of the Civil Aviation Authority consumer panel, said consumers need to know that there are “minimum standards” whichever provider they use, and that the PLFs and testing processes deliver for public health purposes.
“The onus should not be on passengers to have go to lots of different places to work out the information; it needs be really, really simple and really straightforward for them to find out the information,” she told MPs.