A total of 5,772 complaints alleging overcharging were received by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) under the Department of Pharmaceuticals over the five year period from 2018-19 to 2022-23, according to information shared by Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers, of Health and Family Welfare, in the Rajya Sabha, on Tuesday. The Minister was responding to a question asked by All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) MP M. Thambidurai on price capping of, and overcharging in, essential drugs.
In response, the Minister also noted that the NPPA, a regulatory body under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers, monitors the prices of scheduled as well as non-scheduled medicines under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO), 2013 and acts against companies found to be overcharging consumers based on the references received from Price Monitoring Resource Units (PMRU), the State Drugs Controllers, etc.
Additionally, the NPPA has a helpline (1800-111-255) and email (monitoring-nppa@gov.in) on which complaints regarding shortage and overcharging for 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,” the Minister said, adding that ceiling prices of 915 scheduled formulations had been fixed till July 17, 2023 year out of which ceiling prices of 691 formulations had been fixed under NLEM (National List of Essential Medicines), 2022, and 224 formulations under NLEM, 2015. The retail price of around 2,450 new drugs under the DPCO, 2013 have been fixed till July 17, 2023.
Meanwhile, responding to a question by MP Rakesh Sinha in the Rajya Sabha on the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), Dr. Mandaviya said the scope of the NFHS is enhanced in every round, taking into consideration the emerging issues in the health and family welfare domain of the country; requirement of quality data for tracking the ongoing programmes and formulating new policies; and suggestions from various stakeholders after detailed deliberations by the Technical Advisory Committee and other high-level committees comprising representatives from concerned the central Ministries and domain knowledge experts.
The Rajya Sabha was also informed that out of the 24 institutions under Ayurswasthya Yojana, funds have been disbursed to only two of them in the year 2023-24. The Minister of Ayush, Sarbananda Sonowal, provided this information while responding to a question by MP Abir Ranjan Biswas.
