Govt reviews industry's demands to implement changes in drug price policy

A senior government official said the industry has been requesting for an amendment to allow them to implement the price change from the next batch.

The government is reviewing a long-pending industry demand from drugmakers to implement any change in ceiling prices of drugs from the next batch from the date the change is made. 

It is learnt that the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is reviewing the proposal and would decide if any amendment needs to be brought in the Drug Price Control Order, 2013 (DPCO-2013). 

If implemented, this could significantly bring down the number of cases of overcharging by the drug companies. “Many cases of drug overcharging happen as the drugmaker has not been able to recall and re-label an existing batch of