The overcharging practices by the pharma companies, led by the major pharma companies, continued unabated, even as the recovery by the National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority (NPPA) failed to catch up with the trend, as per the latest available data.



The NPPA has recovered a total of Rs.202.20 crore till October 31 this year since its inception, out of a total claim of around Rs.2208 crore due from the companies on overcharging and its interest. The NPPA sent out demand notices altogether in 778 cases so far.



The total dues as on January 31, this year when the NPPA published the details last time, were around Rs.2147 crore and it went up by another nearly Rs.66 crore. On the recovery front however, against the total recovery of Rs.190.95 crore as on January 31, the total amount now went to Rs.202 crore, which is just an improve of about Rs.12 crore in the last eight months. The authority has collected almost Rs.35 crore in the first nine months of financial year 2009-10.



The number of cases in the last eight months was just 39, taking the total number to 778. Cipla continues to lead the tally of defaulters with around Rs.1412 crore against it in over 10 cases. All big companies including Cadila, Ranbaxy, Dr Reddy’s Lab, Pfizer, GlaxoSmithKline, and Merk are also featured in the list, apart the small scale firms.