Lok Sabha Question No. 1572 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-02-10
Subject: Essential Drugs under DPCO
Ministry: CHEMICALS AND FERTILIZERS
Asked by: Dinesh Chandra Yadav

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

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. †1572 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10 th  February, 2023

## Essential Drugs under DPCO

## †1572. SHRI DINESH CHANDRA YADAV:

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

- (a) whether the Government has notified 93 more essential drugs to be covered under Drug Price Control Orders (DPCO) recently;
- (b) whether 120 essential drugs were included under DPCO in the previous month before such notification and if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the total number of drugs included under DPCO till date;
- (d) whether the Government proposes to create awareness/publicity with regard to such drugs for the common people;
- (e)  whether  the  rates  of  drugs  under  DPCO  list  have  been  increased  by  25  to  30  percent annually, an example of which is Timolet eye drops and if so, the details thereof;
- (f) whether the Government has set up any criteria for hiking the prices of such drugs and if so, the details thereof;
- (g) whether there is any mechanism set up by the Government in DPCO to monitor the rates of such drugs; and
- (h) the details of grievance redressal mechanism established by the Government for public in this regard?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CHEMICALS & FERTILIZERS (SHRI BHAGWANTH KHUBA)

(a) to (c):  Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) notified Revised Schedule-I of Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO) on 11.11.2022 incorporating the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) notified by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on 13.09.2022. There are 388 medicines  (including  2  animal  vaccines  and  2  stents)  consisting  of  approximately  954 formulations in the Revised Schedule-I of the DPCO, 2013. National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) under the DoP has fixed ceiling prices of 400 scheduled formulations under NLEM, 2022 till 06.02.2023 as per the provisions of DPCO, 2013.

- (d):       Consumer  awareness/publicity  with  regard  to  such  drugs  is  undertaken  through  a Central  Sector  Scheme  namely,  Consumer  Awareness,  Publicity  and  Price  Monitoring (CAPPM) and is implemented at the Central level by NPPA and at the State/UT level by Price Monitoring and Resource Units (PMRUs) jointly set up by NPPA and the respective State/UT

Government. PMRUs, inter alia ,  undertake  consumer awareness programmes through print and electronic media by organizing seminars, webinars, etc.

(e)  &  (f):   As  per  the  extant  provisions  of  DPCO,  2013,  the  ceiling  prices  of  scheduled medicines  (including  Timolol  Eye  Drops  0.25%  and  0.5%)  are  revised  annually  by  the Government on the basis of increase in Wholesale Price Index (WPI) (all commodities) over the preceding calendar year and notified by the Government on the 1 st day of April every year. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of WPI for the period 2015-22 is 2.94 per cent. Further, the WPI increase provides for the maximum increase permissible and may or may not be availed by manufacturers.  In addition, the prices of 400 scheduled formulations have been refixed under NLEM, 2022 till 06.02.2023. This has led to an average reduction of 15.39 % in the ceiling prices. Specifically, in the case of Timolol Eye drops 0.50% there is a reduction of 9.74% over its price under NLEM, 2015.

(g) & (h): The NPPA monitors the prices of scheduled as well as non-scheduled medicines under DPCO, 2013 and takes action against companies found overcharging the consumers based  on  the  references  received  from  PMRUs,  the  State  Drugs  Controllers;  individuals; samples purchased from the open market; reports from market based data; and complaints reported through the grievance redressal websites/digital platform viz., 'Pharma  Jan Samadhan',  Mobile App 'Pharma Sahi Daam', and 'Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS)'. In addition, NPPA has a Helpline 1800-111-255/email: monitoring-nppa@gov.in,  on  which  complaints  on  shortage,  overcharging  of  drugs  are received from consumers across the country. The Government takes action against companies found overcharging the consumers under the relevant provisions of DPCO, 2013.

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