The All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) has asked the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP) to give a direction to the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) to issue drug traders notification regarding decline in drug prices as per reduction in wholesale price index at least three months in advance to avoid any inconvenience caused to them in implementation of price revision. The Organization will soon submit a memorandum in this regard to the DoP.

AIOCD in its memorandum will also seek the DoP's intervention to direct NPPA to issue circular to drug manufacturers asking them to stop production of medicines with batch number whose prices have been lowered as per Wholesale price index (WPI) and resume supply of the drugs with revised prices.

A delegation of AIOCD led by its president J S Shinde and general secretary Suresh Gupta will soon call on Union minister for chemicals and fertilizers Ananth Kumar, Union minister of state for chemicals and fertilisers Hansraj Ahir and joint secretary, DoP, Sudhansh Pant in this regard.

As per the decline in the WPI by 2.7105 per cent during the year 2015, NPPA has notified on March 2, 2016 that all manufacturers of scheduled formulations having MRP lower than the ceiling price as notified including local taxes, if any, shall reduce the maximum retail prices as per the provisions of paragraph 16(4) of Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013.

AIOCD general secretary Suresh Gupta said that there are 20,000 formulations affected by the NPPA order. After the NPPA notification, if retailers are found selling these formulations at current prices, they are liable for prosecution. On the other hand, manufacturers have not provided us list of revised prices of the formulations which prices were reduced as per WPI.

If retailers stop selling the said formulations in absence of manufacturers' revised price list, it will lead to shortage of drugs in the market and consumers will be left in the lurch as doctors prescribing the drugs are often not aware of NPPA order, he added.

Gupta said that if any circular issued by Central government regarding ceiling price, ban drugs etc; then the same must be provided to every chemist by the state drug authority or central authority as well as pharma manufacturers.

AIOCD president J S Shinde said that the government should have  given retailers at least three months to sell the available stock with current prices and asked drug manufacturers to supply scheduled formulations, whose prices have been lowered by 2.7105 per cent as per WPI, with revised prices after April 1. It will help ensure hassle free implementation of price revision, he added.

NPPA has issued three notifications to concerned stakeholders from March to till date asking them to sell scheduled formulations with revised prices as per WPI, said Shinde.

There are 8.5 lakhs drug traders including 6 lakhs retailers in the country. Of 6 lakhs retailers, 45 to 55 per cent retail chemists lack computer and internet facility. Hence it is impossible for them to find out 20,000 formulations in shops and sell them to consumers as per NPPA notification, he rued.

We have sent several reminders to drug manufacturers asking them to provide retail chemists with revised price list of scheduled formulations but to no avail. Most of the drug retailers are not aware about the NPPA notification and the list of products falling under the notification. Till date no drug manufacturer has recalled his stock for relabeling the current prices on the products. They have not made any effort to make current prices available to drug retailers so far, he added.

Hence we are left with no option but to approach Union minister Ananth Kumar, Union minister of state Hansraj Ahir and joint secretary, DoP Sudhansh Pant and submit a memorandum to them pleading the government to instruct the NPPA to issue such circular at least 90 days ago, he concluded.