LAHORE: The Lahore High Court has dismissed a challenge to the powers of the Punjab Healthcare Commission (PHC) to regulate prices of services provided by labs and diagnostic centres.

Shaukat Khanum Memorial Trust and other diagnostic labs mainly assailed the Punjab Healthcare Commission (Pricing of Healthcare Services) Regulations, 2023.

The petitioners argued that the impugned regulations are beyond the confines of the Punjab Healthcare Commission Act 2010 with no lawful authority to fix prices of the services provided by the healthcare institutions, including the ceiling price.

A counsel for the Shaukat Khanum Trust stated that the petitioner/lab is a trans-provincial entity extending its operations also to the other provinces, therefore, the province of Punjab has no jurisdiction to regulate the affairs of such trans-provincial entities.

Court rules healthcare regulator duly empowered to control rates of diagnostic centres

He said the impugned regulation may render operations of the petitioner in other provinces uncompetitive and not financially feasible.

The lawyers for the provincial government and the PHC opposed the petitions and defended the regulations.

In a 24-page judgement, Justice Raheel Kamran observed that the PHC Act 2010 clearly confers upon the commission authority to regulate and control the prices of healthcare services, including those provided by diagnostic labs.

He maintained that the contention that the Act 2010 only permits asking for display of price lists and investigating overcharging, without the power to control prices, appears to unduly restrict the plain language of the relevant provision.

The judge rejected an argument of the petitioners that the imposition of pricing controls in the absence of demonstrated necessity, constitutes a disproportionate measure.

He said regulating prices for essential healthcare services directly serves the constitutional mandate by preventing arbitrary overcharging and ensuring equitable access.

He ruled that the pricing controls, framed reasonably within the express powers conferred by the law are not only necessary but also represent a proportionate measure to fulfil a vital public interest and prevent undue financial burden on patients.

Justice Kamran rejected another argument by some of the petitioners regarding the application of the regulations owing to their trans-provincial status.

The judge observed that the healthcare is primarily a provincial subject, therefore, where healthcare services are provided within a province the provincial government and its authorised commission retain the legislative and regulatory competence over those activities.

He said the services offered by diagnostic centres are integral to healthcare delivery and allowing varied pricing for identical services based solely on the facility type would undermine the very purpose of regulation, which is to protect the consumer from exploitation.

The judge noted that the application of uniform pricing controls for specific services across all relevant healthcare establishments is a rational and non-discriminatory approach to achieve objectives of the law.

“Therefore, the question of treating dissimilarly placed entities similarly does not arise and any such plea of discrimination is manifestly unfounded,” Justice Kamran observed in the judgement.

The judge said the counsel for the petitioners could not assert and provide any substantial material to demonstrate that capping the profit margin at 20 per cent is unreasonable or represents an irrational return on investment in the provision of healthcare services.

The judge dismissed the petition, ruling that the PHC is duly empowered to regulate and control the pricing of healthcare services rendered by healthcare establishments including diagnostic facilities and laboratories throughout the province of Punjab.

Published in Dawn, November 6th, 2025