'False, misleading': Centre dismisses reports claiming hike in medicine prices
PTC News Desk: Centre on Wednesday refuted media reports claiming that medicine prices will rise by up to 12% beginning April 2024, calling them false, misleading, and malicious.
The government in an official statement said "Some media reports have highlighted that medicine prices will witness a significant hike by up to 12 per cent from April 2024. These reports further claim that more than 500 medicines will be affected by this increase in price. Such reports are false, misleading and malicious".
According to the Drug Price Control Orders (DPCO) 2013, drugs are categorised into scheduled and non-scheduled formulations. The formulations mentioned in Schedule I of DPCO 2013 are scheduled formulations, while those not defined in Schedule I are non-schedule formulations.
According to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), which is part of the Department of Pharmaceuticals, revises the ceiling pricing of scheduled medicines on a yearly basis using the Wholesale Price Index (WPI).
The ceiling prices on 923 medicines are effective as of date.
The scheduled drugs listed in Schedule I of the DPCO, 2013 are essential.
According to data published by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), the annual change in WPI with base year 2011-12 was () 0.00551 percent in calendar year 2023 compared to the same time in 2022.
Medicines priced between Rs 90 and Rs 261 will see a Rs 0.01 (one paisa) hike. Companies may or may not take advantage of the authorised price rise due to its small size.
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