Medicine retailers, e-pharmacies asked to display DPCO's drug price list

National pharma pricing regulator says list has to be put up 'conspicuously'

Medicine retailers and online pharmacies will have to “conspicuously” display a list of drug prices as set in the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013, the national pharma pricing regulator has said.

 

In an office memorandum dated February 4, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) of the Department of Pharmaceuticals said retailers, dealers, and online pharmacies will have to comply with Para 24 and 25 of the DPCO, 2013 from now on. 'Business Standard' has a copy of the memorandum. (NPPA comes under the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilisers.)

 

Online pharmacies told 'Business Standard' they are studying the order. While the retailers’ lobby did not respond immediately, pharmaceutical industry executives said that the move could be both good and bad. “Patients may ask for the lowest priced drug, which may always not be of the best quality. As such the revised Schedule M implementation has been delayed for smaller players, and there is no uniform quality of manufacturing across India,” said a pharma company’s chief executive officer on grounds of anonymity.

 

Para 24 of the DPCO, 2013 says that every manufacturer should issue a price list (in Form V or Form VI) to dealers, state drug controllers, and the government, indicating reference to price fixation or revision as covered by gazette notification by the government from time to time. Further, every retailer and dealer should display the price list as furnished by the manufacturer on a “conspicuous part of the premises where he carries on business” such that it is easily accessible to any person wishing to consult the same.

 

Para 25 of DPCO 2013 also has similar provisions for non-scheduled drugs. NPPA fixes prices for scheduled drugs in the National List of Essential Medicines (NLEM) and for non-scheduled drugs companies can take an annual rise of 10 percent.  NLEM covers 384 drugs covering around 870 formulations.

 

Para 25 mentions that the price list for the non-scheduled drugs to also be displayed in a conspicuous part of the premises. It also covers the virtual or electronic premises where a retailer or dealer carries on business.

 

The memorandum thus notes that all retailers and dealers including online pharmacies carrying on a business of purchase or sale of drugs through physical mode as well as online mode (through website, online portal, e-commerce sites, app) are required to display the current price list.

 

Any violation is punishable under Section 7 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955, said the memorandum.