The pharmacists across India are still facing confusion with regards to the revised drug prices as none of the chemists or druggists have received the supplementary price list from the manufacturers.
Raj Vaidya, a Panaji-based community pharmacist, says “More than 100 drug prices were revised by the NPPA. In NPPA notification it is mentioned that the revised price should be made effective immediately. But the older stock of the medicine has not been withdrawn from the market and we are asked to sell the same stock at new revised price. This is creating lot of confusion amongst retailer and distributors.”
He further Informed GSK has reduced price of Crocin Advance from Rs.16.36 to Rs.13.07. Whilst our distributors are billing us at reduced rate, the strips supplied still have higher price, similarly with Otrivin nasal spray 69- v/s 50.61. After reducing the price, some wholesalers are pricing at old high rates and some at reduced rates for the same product.
Earlier, the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) has urged the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to mandate all the manufacturers of drugs, whose ceiling prices were recently reduced with the reduction in WPI for some of the formulations under NLEM, to circulate supplementary price list to the retailers or else call back the stock for correction in MRPs.
In their last recommendation they also highlighted that some of the manufacturers have reduced the prices only in their invoices as per NPPA order. But they are supplying the products with old MRPs to dealers and asking the distributors or retailers to sell it at lesser price. They are informing distributors to circulate this information to retail chemists.
The organisation had also demanded to allow at least 90 days to sell the stock available with the retailer or wholesalers so that the retailers and wholesalers do not face the practical difficulties as some of the manufacturers have not issued supplementary price list to traders.
Earlier the companies used to withdraw the stock from the market and replace it with revised price stock or they used to put stickers of the revised priced on the strip of the medicine. “But this time nothing like that has happened. Either the stock should be recalled or we should be allowed to sell it on the same price mentioned on the strip. It is not easy to keep a track of old and new prices and old and new stock of different rates existing on shelves,” said Vaidya.