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The principles for regulation of prices of drugs are laid down by the National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Policy (NPPP), 2012. The key principles of regulation of prices under the said policy are (i) regulation on the basis of essentiality of drugs, (ii) regulation of prices of formulations only, i.e., medicines used by consumers and not the upstream products such as bulk drugs or intermediates, and (iii) regulation through market-based pricing and not cost-based pricing. In accordance with the said policy, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) under the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) fixes ceiling prices under the provisions of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO), 2013.
The Integrated Pharmaceutical Database Management System (IPDMS) is a mechanism for collecting market-based data related to drugs as required under DPCO, 2013, which facilitates online submission of required returns/reports. Its current version, IPDMS 2.0, displays information regarding effective ceiling prices and retail prices. This data is updated from time to time for the information of all stakeholders.
DPCO, 2013 requires every manufacturer to issue a price list and supplementary price list, if required, in Form-V (for formulations) or Form-VI (for medical devices) to the dealers, State Drugs Controllers and the Government. Further, every retailer and dealer is required to display the price list and supplementary price list, if any, as furnished by the manufacturer, on a conspicuous part of the premises where he carries on business. The information regarding the details of the product, price to distributors, price to retailers, price changes, date from which price revision is effective, etc. are part of the said forms.
For consumer benefit and transparency, NPPA’s mobile app, Pharma Sahi Daam (PSD) is available for downloading from the Google Playstore for Android-based devices and from AppStore for Apple devices. PSD displays the brand name, composition, ceiling price and maximum retail price of drugs and is easily searchable. Further, all price notifications of formulations for which prices have been fixed or revised are available on NPPA’s website (www.nppaindia.nic.in). Also, as a transparency measure, a draft version of the price calculation sheets for the proposed revised price notifications, including wherever applicable, the price to retailer and the moving annual turnover values adopted for calculations is uploaded on NPPA’s website for 10 clear working days to invite comments from stakeholders. NPPA finalises ceiling and retail prices after taking into account comments received within the said period. Thus, the entire procedure of price fixation in accordance with extant policy is available in the public domain, ensuring transparency and accountability, and no change in this regard is under consideration.
This information was given by the Union Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilizers Smt Anupriya Patel in Rajya Sabha in written reply to a question yesterday.
