Companies introducing 22 drugs without prior approval of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) have been issued notices. The government has issued notices to pharma firms for introducing drugs without prior approval from the national drug pricing regulator, Parliament was informed.
The NPPA regularly takes action against such companies as per provisions of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013 (DPCO) which has been issued under the Essential Commodities Act, 1955. The NPPA has so far issued demand notices for an amount of Rs. 101 crore against defaulting companies. Out of this, an amount of Rs. 5.56 crore has been recovered and demand notices amounting to Rs. 89.31 crore are under litigation.
Cases of new drugs are identified from the market-based data being referred to by the NPPA. In addition, new drug cases are also identified through complaint or information received from other sources. This information was given in a written reply by the Union Minister for the Chemicals & Fertilizers, Shri D .V. Sadananda Gowda in the Lok Sabha.