Rs 830 cr recovered from drug firms for overcharging

The government has recovered Rs 830 crore as fine from pharmaceutical companies for overcharging till May 2018, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

Since the inception of National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) till May this year, 1,794 demand notices were issued to drug companies for overcharging patients, Union Minister Mansukh L Mandaviya said in a written reply to the House.

"Demand notices have been issued for a total amount of Rs 6,058.07 crore. Amount to the tune of Rs 829.88 crore has been recovered from the companies...in overcharging cases," he added.

In a separate reply, the minister of state for chemicals and fertilisers said exports of generic drugs in 2017-18 stood at USD 12.9 billion. The global generic market in the same period stood at USD 302 billion.

The total pharma exports including bulk drugs, formulations, herbal products and surgicals stood at USD 17.27 billion in 2017-18, Mandaviya said.

He said the government is taking a lot of steps to encourage the use of generic drugs in the domestic market.

"The use of unbranded generics is on the rise in the country and it is now estimated at 7 per cent of the domestic market share," he said.

In another reply, he said the government had constituted an inter-ministerial committee on November 7, 2013, to suggest ways and means to fix the prices of patented drugs in the country.