New Delhi, July 28 (IANS) The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has fixed ceiling prices for 935 scheduled drug formulations and retail prices for 3,845 new drugs as on July 23, 2026, in order to keep essential medicines within affordable limits for patients, the Government informed Parliament on Tuesday.
NPPA fixes the ceiling prices of the drugs included in Schedule-I of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 (DPCO), which is based on the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) published by the Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. The list currently contains 388 medicines. Further, in case of non-scheduled formulations, manufacturers are required not to increase their maximum retail price (MRP) of a formulation by more than 10 per cent of the MRP of that formulation during the preceding 12 months. In addition, NPPA can also fix the prices of any drug in the public interest in extraordinary circumstances, Minister of State for Chemicals and Fertilisers Anupriya Patel stated in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.
The minister further stated that NPPA continuously reviews the affordability and availability of medicines. As and when required, the Government invokes the provisions of DPCO, 2013 and makes required interventions to ensure affordability and availability of essential medicines.
To prevent overpricing, DPCO 2013 requires every manufacturer of a formulation to print the maximum retail price on the label of the container of such formulation. Further, no person is permitted to sell any formulation to any consumer at a price exceeding the price specified on the current price list or price indicated on the label of the container or the pack, whichever is less, the minister said.
Moreover, NPPA monitors the prices of both scheduled and non-scheduled formulations on an ongoing basis and takes action in accordance with the provisions of DPCO, 2013 against companies that are found overcharging consumers, based on references received regarding overcharging from any source, including Price Monitoring and Resource Units set up in States, State Drugs Controllers, samples purchased from open market, reports from market database and complaints lodged through various grievance redress channels, the minister added.
She also said that the Government has taken various measures to improve the access of essential medicines at affordable rates to the common man which include the launch of the Pradhan Mantri Bhartiya Janaushadhi Pariyojana scheme, Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (AB-PMJAY) and the Free Drugs Service Initiative of the National Health Mission.
–IANS
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