To take stock of the drug price situation in the country in the aftermath of the union budget, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) has convened a two-day meeting of all the stake holders on April 11 and 12 in Delhi.

Apart from the senior officials from the chemicals ministry and NPPA, all the state drug controllers have been invited for the meeting to take stock of the situation. Besides, all the major industry associations and NGOs have been asked to attend the meeting.

Titled as 'pharmaceutical pricing and regulatory framework for affordable prices', the meeting will verify through the stake holders whether the drug companies have passed on the excise benefits to the consumers by reducing the drug prices. The central government in its budget this year had slashed the excise duty from 16 to 8 per cent.

Immediately after the union budget on February 29, the NPPA had asked the drug companies to reduce the prices of drugs by 4.58 per cent. Though the government had decreased excise duty to the tune of 8 per cent, the government also reduced the abatement from the 42.5 per cent to 35 per cent, reducing the excise benefits.

Meanwhile, though the government will be able to enforce the reduction in prices of scheduled drugs as the drug companies are legally bound to reduce the prices of controlled drugs, there is no such restriction on non-scheduled drugs. The meeting will take up this issue also.