Strictly adhering to the guidelines of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) with regards to Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO) 2013, the wholesale drugs dealers association in Kerala is gearing up to approach the national price regulator for stringent action against manufacturing companies for non-compliance of price control orders.
The decision of the wholesalers association, Alliance of Pharmaceutical Traders (APT) Kerala, to complain with the NPPA has come in the wake of the intervention of NPPA on a complaint lodged by Gwalior-based dealer, Pharma Sales, against Indore-based GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals for refusal of drugs supply. The NPPA had ordered the company to supply medicines to the wholesaler and informed them that if they failed to comply the order, it would be taken as breach of Para 28 of the DPCO 2013, which says that refusal of sale of medicines to a dealer without good and sufficient reason is a violation of the order.
Further, the APT Kerala is also persuaded to approach the NPPA due to the apathetical attitude of the state drugs control administration in handling the violations by the manufacturers. Despite several complaints to the zonal office of the DCA in Kozhikodu and also to the DC office in the state capital, the authorities are showing no interest to take action against the erring companies, said Kunhi Moidoo, president of APT Kerala.
According to him, the Kozhikodu based C&F agency of the Ahmedabad based manufacturing company, Intas Pharmaceuticals, is continuously refusing to supply drugs to a wholesale licence holder, Meyon Pharma based in Kozhikodu. Besides, the representative of the company in Kozhikodu is behaving very roughly to the dealers who seek the reason for the refusal of drug supplies. The ADC office in the district is also acting in support of the company, hence DPCO violations are amplifying.
For smooth implementation and effective detection of violations of the order, in May last year, the NPPA made a proposal to all the state drugs control offices to set up price monitoring cells (PMC) in every state. The traders can complain to the PMCs against all kinds of violations by manufacturers, and the general public can give complaints of price violations by any trader or pharmacy. But, the Kerala drugs control administration has so far not set up such a price monitoring cell of the national price regulating agency. In its absence, for immediate intervention of the government, APT has decided to lodge their complaint with the NPPA national office.
As regards setting up of PMCs, except Rajasthan and Karnataka, no state in the country has taken significant steps complying with the guidelines of NPPA. Even though the drugs control department in Kerala sent a proposal to the government expressing its willingness to start the NPPA PMC in Kochi, no further step has been taken yet. Sources from NPPA said that had the DC department set up the PMC already, swift action could have been taken against Intas Pharmaceuticals and its C&F agency in Kozhikodu.
When contacted, state drugs controller B Hariprasad said there is one court order based on DPCO 1995 that the department should not interfere in the affairs of companies in appointing their stockists. To this comment, APT Kerala president said it is the responsibility of the DC to implement DPCO 2013 as per which the manufacturer can appoint one stockist for their commercial purpose, but cannot refuse sale of drugs to any licensed wholesaler.