The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has issued notices on the grounds of overcharging in 847 cases so far to claim a total amount of Rs. 2462.83 crore, showing an upward trend in the number of fresh cases and recovery in the recent past.
During the last five months till the end of July, the price monitoring agency sent notices in 31 cases to recover an amount of Rs.5.93 crore. During the last one year time, it sent 35 cases.
And continuing the same pattern for almost eight years, Cipla remained the biggest defaulter accounting for over 60 per cent of the total outstanding arrears, thanks to the prolonged legal battle over the overcharging of prices.
Significantly, the amount of recovery was also on the rise as in the case of notices. The total amount recovered went up to Rs.234.44 crore as on July 31 from Rs.217.67 crore on February 29 this year, marking a considerable increase compared to the previous pace of recovery.
Apart from Cipla, most of the big companies in the sector also have figured in the list and many of them have paid the arrears in several cases. They included Cadila, Ranbaxy, Dr Reddy’s Lab, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline and Merck.
As on July 31 last year, the agency had issued 812 price recovery notices to over 200 drug firms. The NPPA has issued notices in 816 cases till February 29, since its inception to claim a total amount of Rs.2456.90 crore.