Lok Sabha Question No. 1116 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-24
Subject: Price Control of Medicines
Ministry: CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS
Asked by: KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR, RAJENDRA AGRAWAL, C. N. JAYADEVAN

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS DEPARTMENT OF PHARMACEUTICALS

## LOK SABHA

UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1116

TO BE ANSWERED ON 24 th  July, 2018

## Price Control of Medicines

†1116. SHRI KAUSHALENDRA KUMAR: SHRI RAJENDRA AGRAWAL: SHRI C.N. JAYADEVAN:

Will the Minister of CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has any proposal to bring more drugs including all the essential medicines under price control;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the details of drugs brought under price control along with the reduction in the prices in the recent past;
- (d) whether the consumers have benefited as a result thereof; and
- (e) if so, the details thereof along with the efforts being made to monitor the price control mechanism?

## ANSWER

## 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),  as  an  ongoing process, fixes  the  ceiling  prices  of  the  formulations  as  and  when  formulations  are included in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM).
- (c): NPPA fixes the ceiling prices of medicines listed in the Schedule - I of Drugs (Prices  Control)  Order,  2013  (DPCO,  2013).  Till  June  2018,  the  Government  has fixed  the  ceiling  prices  of  851  medicines  (including  4  medical  devices  i.e.  Cardiac stents,  drug  eluting  stents,  condoms  and  intra  uterine  devices)  under  Revised Schedule - I based on National List of Essential Medicines, 2015 (NLEM, 2015).

The  details  of  reduction  in  prices  of  scheduled  formulations  effected  under DPCO, 2013 as compared to the highest price prevailing prior to the announcement of DPCO, 2013 for formulation of NLEM, 2015 (Revised Schedule - I) are as follows:

| Statement showing reduction in ceiling prices of scheduled formulations with respect to maximum price under NELM 2015   | Statement showing reduction in ceiling prices of scheduled formulations with respect to maximum price under NELM 2015   |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|
| %reduction with respect to Maximum Price                                                                                | No. of scheduled formulations                                                                                           |
| 0<= 5%                                                                                                                  | 234                                                                                                                     |
| 5<=10%                                                                                                                  | 134                                                                                                                     |
| 10<=15%                                                                                                                 | 98                                                                                                                      |
| 15<=20%                                                                                                                 | 98                                                                                                                      |
| 20<=25%                                                                                                                 | 93                                                                                                                      |
| 25<=30%                                                                                                                 | 65                                                                                                                      |
| 30<=35%                                                                                                                 | 46                                                                                                                      |
| 35<=40%                                                                                                                 | 24                                                                                                                      |
| Above 40%                                                                                                               | 59                                                                                                                      |
| Total formulations in NLEM, 2015                                                                                        | 851                                                                                                                     |

(d) & (e): The fixation of ceiling prices/MRP has resulted in a total saving of Rs. 11,463 crore to  the  public  after  implementation  of  DPCO,  2013.  This  includes  the saving  of  Rs.  4,547  crore  on  account  fixation  of  ceiling  price  of  coronary  stents (including  re-fixation)  and  Rs.  1,500  crore  on  account  of  price  fixation  of  Knee implants. The saving to consumer since May 2014, on account of the revision/price fixation is as under:-

| Particulars                                                       | Saving to consumer ( Rs. in Crore)   |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|--------------------------------------|
| Under NLEM, 2011 from May, 2014 to Feb, 2016                      | 2,422                                |
| Under NLEM, 2015 from March, 2016 to June, 2018                   | 2,644                                |
| Coronary Stents in Feb, 2017 (including re-fixation in Feb, 2018) | 4,547                                |
| Knee Implants in Aug, 2017                                        | 1,500                                |
| Para 19 - Cardio and Anti Diabetic in July, 2014                  | 350                                  |
| TOTAL                                                             | 11463                                |

NPPA is  effectively  monitoring  the  prices  of  scheduled  as  well  as  nonscheduled medicines under DPCO, 2013 so that these formulations are available to public at ceiling prices notified and no manufacturer of non-scheduled formulations can  increase  more  than  10%  in  price  as  per  provisions  of  DPCO,  2013.  It  takes action against companies  found overcharging the consumers  based on the references received from the State Drugs Controllers / individuals,  samples purchased from the open market, reports from market  based data and complaints reported  through  the  grievance  redressal  websites;  'Pharma  Jan  Samadhan'  and 'Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS)'.

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