UK watchdog opens probe into COVID-19 test provider Expert Medicals

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(Reuters) - Britain's competition regulator said on Friday it had opened an investigation into Expert Medicals, one of the UK's largest providers of COVID-19 tests, following complaints that it did not provide timely results and refused to issue refunds when due.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) said customers had also alleged Expert Medicals, which provides polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, failed to respond to complaints.

The private firm has been removed from a list of testing providers who self-declare that they meet the government's minimum standards of COVID-19 testing, the regulator added.

Last week, the watchdog had sent an open letter https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-warns-pcr-test-providers-against-breaking-consumer-law to PCR test providers warning that a range of harmful practices in the sector could breach consumer protection law.

The CMA said https://www.gov.uk/government/news/cma-launches-next-wave-of-action-in-pcr-testing-market on Friday it had also written to 19 other test providers, warning them to improve their pricing information on concerns of falsely advertising tests at low prices when they are either unavailable at that price or include hidden conditions.

(Reporting by Priyanshi Mandhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)