The National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority (NPPA) has announced that it has completed recovery of Rs 190.95 crore till January 31, 2010, out of its total claim of around Rs 2147 crore on overcharging drug prices and its interest.

According to a latest statement of the NPPA, the price regulator had issued overcharging dues in 739 cases on pharma companies marketing their products in the country. The pharma majors including Cipla Ltd, Ranbaxy Lab, Dr Reddy's Lab, Cadila Healthcare (Zydus) and Cadila Pharmaceuticals along with multinational companies like Pfizer India Ltd, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck and Johnson & Johnson were among the companies which has allegedly violated the drug price norms till date. The list also includes a large number of small scale pharma companies, details the statement.

Out of the Rs 1956.05 crore pending dues from the pharma companies, almost Rs 1386.65 crore is from Cipla Ltd, the largest drug manufacturer in the country while the rest of the companies together has to pay Rs 569.4 crore. The dues declared by the authority includes the interest on the actual amount to be payed over the time period.

As Pharmabiz reported earlier, the authority has collected almost Rs 35 crore in the first nine months of financial year 2009-10.