Retail chemists in Uttar Prdesh and in some northern states are still selling GSK's Crocin Advance at the price of Rs.30 per strip of 15 as the drug control departments in these states have not issued any directions to sell the product at the DPCO price. These state administrations are stated to have not received any order from National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority in this regard.

FDA officials, however, also maintain that action can be taken against the retailers for non-compliance of DPCO. NPPA has already rejected GSK's plea to exempt Crocin Advance from DPCO some time ago after it took a stand that Crocin Advance is nothing but paracetamol and not a new drug. The price of Rs.14.84 for a strip of 15 is therefore applicable to Crocin Advance also.

GSK had commenced a nationwide recall of its stocks of Crocin Advance following NPPA's directive last month but it is still being sold by large number of retailers mostly in northern states at Rs.2 per tablet as against the DPCO price of 0.94 paise.

GSK was expected to recall the entire stocks of Crocin Advance from the market and send back after relabelling it at the DPCO price of Rs.14.84 for a strip of 15 tablets in a short period. Now even after 40 days, the company could not complete the recall of the overpriced stocks.

Says a retailer based in Lucknow, "We are selling the drug at the old price since we have not received any intimation from the state drug regulatory authority or the company. We are therefore bound to sell at the old overpriced rate." Retailers in Chattisgarh and Delhi are also echoing similar sentiments even as some are awaiting the drug to reach the market at the price mandated by the government as per DPCO 2013 rules based on the media reports.

Retailers based in Mumbai have started selling the drug at the DPCO price of 14.84 for a strip of 15 tablets as against the overpriced rate of Rs.30 for a strip of 15 tablets. A GSK spokesperson also confirmed that they have started rolling out fresh stocks a week back owing to market demand.