National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA)

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Context

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is working more as a facilitator and not just as a regulator- Health Minister said at its silver jubilee celebrations.

About

The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is a government regulatory agency that controls the prices of pharmaceutical drugs in India.
National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) was constituted in 1997 as an attached office of the Department of Pharmaceuticals (DoP), Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers as an independent Regulator for pricing of drugs and to ensure availability and accessibility of medicines at affordable prices.
The NPPA regularly publishes lists of medicines and their maximum ceiling prices.

Functions

To implement and enforce the provisions of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order in accordance with the powers delegated to it.
To deal with all legal matters arising out of the decisions of the Authority.
To monitor the availability of drugs, identify shortages, if any, and take remedial steps.
To collect/ maintain data on production, exports and imports, market share of individual companies, the profitability of companies etc, for bulk drugs and formulations.
To undertake and/ or sponsor relevant studies in respect of the pricing of drugs/ pharmaceuticals.
To recruit/ appoint the officers and other staff members of the Authority, as per rules and procedures laid down by the Government.
To render advice to the Central Government on changes/ revisions in drug policy.
To help the Central Government in parliamentary matters relating to the drug pricing.

Price monitoring and resource unit (PMRU)

Under its program called "Consumer awareness, publicity and price monitoring (CAPPMS)" the NPPA has set up 12 Price monitoring and resource units in various States and UTs.
It has planned to set up such units in all 36 states and UTs for better outreach of NPPA in the states as these units will help the NPPA and State drug controller to ensure the accessibility of drugs at affordable prices.
The PMRUs are societies registered under The Societies Registration Act, 1860 under the direct supervision of The State Drug Controller with its "board of governors" containing nominees of state and central government apart from other stakeholders. They will be funded by NPPA for their recurring and non-recurring expenses.

Trivia

On 1st April 2022 NPPA increased over 800 medicines under the National List of Essential Medicines (NELM) by over 10%. The price increased was based on the Wholesale Price Index (WPI) data provided by the office of the Economic Advisor, Ministry of Commerce and Industry.