Question : CEILING PACKAGE FOR DRUGS

(a) whether the task of identifying ceiling packs of drugs and determining their ceiling prices is done by the same officer;

(b) if so, the number of additional ceiling packs identified by National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority;

(c) whether the Ministry has announced non-ceiling packs of formulation for tablets and capsules;

(d) whether it is a fact that other dosage forms like liquids, injectable and ointments have not been covered therein;

(e) if so, the reasons therefor; and

(f) steps taken by the Government to remove such discriminations?

THE MINISTER OF CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS & MINISTER OF STEEL (SHRI RAM VILAS PASWAN )

(a) to (f) : Identification of ceiling packs of drugs and determination of their ceiling prices is done by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) under the provisions of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order 1995,(DPCO,1995). The prices of ceiling packs and non-ceiling packs of various dosage forms like tablets, capsules, liquids, injectable and ointments etc, are fixed or revised either based on Form – III (of DPCO 1995) applications received from various formulators or on suo-moto basis. So far, since inception, NPPA has fixed / revised prices in the case of 1285 non-ceiling packs and 1272 ceiling packs, covering all such dosage forms. There is no discrimination between types of packs in the process of price fixation/ revision of formulations.