The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) which keeps a tab on the annual price hike of non-scheduled drugs and the Department of Pharmaceuticals are fighting in various courts in the country to recover a total of over Rs.2725.20 in 169 cases after the price regulator slapped notices against the defaulters.

Cipla, which continues to be the biggest defaulter on the grounds of overcharging, owes more than Rs.1885 crore to the government, after the company had dragged the NPPA to the court in 16 cases and the DoP in one case.

The NPPA, which sends notices to the manufacturing/marketing companies if the annual price rise of a non-scheduled formulation is beyond the permissible limit of 10 per cent, has so far sent notices in 993 cases to recover a total amount of Rs.3029.04 crore since its inception.

NPPA is handling 125 cases while the DoP is fighting in 44 cases across different courts as defaulting companies chose to challenge the orders instead of paying the difference amount. Sources said the cases are being pursued actively by the Department and the agency through the Central Government counsels and law officers.

Interestingly, Cipla accounts for over 62 per cent of the total arrears due from the entire list of defaulters and has not paid anything so far to the government after it challenged the NPPA orders in 17 cases. Out of the total amount of Rs.2725.20 crore challenged in the courts also, Cipla accounts for over 69 per cent, making it the biggest litigator against NPPA.

The cases relating to Salbutamol based formulation (Rs.553.90 crore), cloxacillin based formulation (Rs.29.89 crore), ciprofloxacin based formulation (Rs.357.56 crore), norfloxacin based formulation (Rs.453.14 crore), norflox based formulations (Rs.36.87 crore), Salbutamol (Rs.85.21 crore), Ciplox-TZ (Rs.89.07 cr), Alerid-D (Rs.30.50 cr), ciprofloxacin (Rs.99.60 crore), Duolin Rotacaps (Rs.47.69 crore), and Ciplox E/E Drops (Rs.84.75 crore) are among those challenged by Cipla after the price regulator sent notices.

Ranbaxy has also challenged the NPPA orders in 13 cases. Out of these, two cases are handled by the DoP. The total amount in contention between NPPA and Ranbaxy is Rs.136.18 crore. However, unlike Cipla, Ranbaxy has paid already Rs.30.29 crore out of the total arrears.

Johnson & Johnson, US Vitamins, Shimal Investment and Trading Company (Ranbaxy), Ipca Labs, Polaris Healthcare, Kopran Ltd, Okasa Pharma Ltd, GlaxoSmithKline, Dr. Reddy's Labs, Johnson & Smith, Indian Immunologiclas Ltd, Cadila Healthcare, Anchor Pharma, Arvind Remedies, Swiss Garnier, Best Lab, Astalife, Wanbury/Creative Healthcare, Pfizer, GSK Pharmaceuticals, Claris Life Science, Aventis Pharma, Lupin Labs, Avantis Pharma , Universal Pharmaceuticals, Neo Pharma (P), Modi Mundi Pharma, Franco Indian Remedies, Comed Chemicals, ORO Pharma, Avis Life Sciences/Morepen, Brussels Laboratories, IPCA Lab, Parenteral Drugs, and Ind Swift Ltd are also among those who challenged the NPPA orders.

Cases filed by Parke Davis (I) Ltd, Sandoz India, Abbott Laboratories India, Pfizer, Bayer (I) Ltd, Gufic Ltd, US Vitamins, Biochem Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Wyeth Ltd, J.B. Chemicals, Nicholas Piramal India Ltd, Themis Medicare, Wallace Pharma, Fulford (I), GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd, Alembic Chemicals Works, Dolphin Laboratoreis, Sun Pharmaceuticals(I), AstraZeneca, and Lyka Labs are among those 44 handled by the Department of Pharmaceuticals.

According to the figures released by the NPPA till September end, the total amount sought from the companies in 993 cases was Rs.3029.04 crore and the total amount recovered so far is Rs.254.63 crore.