Union chemicals minister Ram Vilas Paswan will inaugurate the Centre for Information Facilitation and Grievances (CIFG), Chennai, the online complaint submission and redressal system developed by National Informatics Centre in association with National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) in Chennai on September 26. NPPA will start six centres in this regard in the country with an objective of speedy redressal and an effective and efficient monitoring of complaints related to availability and prices of medicines.

Prior to the inaugural function there will be a seminar on "Consumer Awareness" attended by members from IDMA, Drugs Control Department, Health Department and members from NGOs of health and environment, said K Sundaraswami, drugs controller, Tamil Nadu.

According to informed sources, Chennai is one of the six cities identified by the NPPA to start CIFG. The objective of the centre is to disseminate information on the availability of the notified prices of scheduled drugs and formulations. Further, it aims to create consumer awareness and facilitate speedy complaint redressal on overcharging of prices of scheduled formulations, non-availability or shortage of any medicine and sale of scheduled formulations without prior price approval of NPPA.

With the launch of a CIFG, any individual or organization can lodge the complaint through internet directly to NPPA and the action taken on the complaint will be intimated to the person within 30 days by the authority. If a higher price is charged for a scheduled formulation against the notified price, the consumer can lodge his complaint to NPPA. The notified prices of the drugs will be available in the website of the Authority.

In collaboration with the state health department, NPPA will organize a seminar on consumer awareness before the inaugural function on the same day at the Image Auditorium at MRC Nagar, here. State health minister M R K Paneerselvam will preside over the meeting. People from National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority, Directorate of Drugs Controller General and state and national health department will take part in the seminar.

Availability of essential drugs, non-implementation of reduced prices of scheduled formulations by manufacturers, transfer of scheduled formulations to SSI units by the organized sectors to circumvent price control, reporting of detected contraventions on overcharging NPPA, steps taken to improve the storage and handling of medicines, spurious drugs and customer relations are some of the topics the organizers want to highlight in the seminar. Problems and Suggestions of the states for drug price control regime and problems of consumer groups and NGOs will also be discussed in the seminar.

In Chennai, the Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group (CAG), an NGO is the agency to conduct the functioning of the redressal centre. Sources from CAG said the organization has signed a MOU with the NPPA and the Centre will begin to work as soon as the inauguration is over. An amount of Rs.1, 29,000 were handed over to CAG by NPPA in this regard, it is learnt.

The proposed CIFG will be committed to provide impartial, sympathetic and prompt services to the public in matters relating to all kind of medications, sources said.