Drug price regulator NPPA has capped the prices of four essential drugs and revised 14 more, including the ones used for treatment of fungal infections and hypertension.
"NPPA has fixed/revised ceiling prices of 18 scheduled formulations of Schedule-I under Drugs (Price Control) Amendment Order,2016 under DPCO, 2013," National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) said in a statement.
As stipulated under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO) 2013, NPPA fixes ceiling price of essential medicines of Schedule I.
In respect of medicines not under price control, manufacturers are allowed to increase the maximum retail price by 10 per cent annually.
The calculation for essential drugs is based on the simple average of all medicines in a particular therapeutic segment with sales of more than 1 per cent.
The government had notified the DPCO 2013 with effect from May 15, 2014, replacing the 1995 order that regulated prices of only 74 bulk drugs.
Set up in 1997, NPPA has been entrusted with the task of fixing and revising prices of pharma products, enforcement of provisions of DPCO and monitoring the prices of controlled and decontrolled drugs.
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