Will the Minister of CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS be pleased to state:
(a) whether the Government is aware that the drugs manufacturing companies and distributors are selling life saving drugs at high prices;
(b) if so, whether the Government proposes to fix the maximum retail price for each medicine;
(c) if so, the details thereof;
(d) if not, the reasons therefor; and
(e) the steps taken/being taken by the Government to control the prices of drugs?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS; MINISTRY OF SHIPPING AND MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS (SHRI MANSUKH L. MANDAVIYA)
(a) & (b): National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) fixes the ceiling prices of medicines appearing in Schedule – I of the Drugs (Prices Control), Order 2013 (DPCO, 2013) and no manufacturers are permitted to sell beyond the ceiling price. In respect of non-scheduled formulations, no manufacturer can increase the maximum retail price of a drug more than ten percent of maximum retail price during preceding twelve months.
(c), (d) & (e): After the Drugs (Prices Control), Order 2013 (DPCO, 2013) was notified on 15/05/2013, National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has notified the ceiling prices of 530 formulations which appeared in Schedule –I of DPCO, 2013. Subsequently the Government amended the Schedule – I of the above said Order on 10/03/2016 by including the medicines in the National List of Essential Medicines 2015 (NLEM 2015). The NPPA has so far fixed prices of 664 formulations of the revised Schedule - I.
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