Public asked to cross check MRP on tablets with NPPA rates

Customers can download Pharma Sahi Daam app developed by NPPA to find out the actual price of the drug

In the backdrop of some pharmaceutical companies charging higher prices for generic medicines, the drug control wing has been advising the public to check the maximum retail price written on most medicines by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA).

Customers can download an app known as- Pharma Sahi Daam developed by NPPA to cross-check the actual price of the drug. Drug control wing officials said they would book cases against those who ignored NPPA rates.

They said they have already filed criminal cases against five pharmaceutical companies based in North India for printing higher MRP on the strips contrary to the price determined by NPPA.

Deputy Director of Drug Control Department B. Suresh Babu said, “A generic medicine is a pharmaceutical drug that is equivalent to a brand-name product in dosage, strength, route of administration, quality, performance, and intended use, but does not carry the brand name. The generic drug has the same active pharmaceutical ingredient (API) as the original, but may differ in characteristics such as manufacturing process, formulation, excipients, colour, taste, and packaging.”

He said the inventor of any medicine has rights over the product for 20 years and it will become generic thereafter and anyone can produce the drug.

Since there are hardly any inventions in India, he said 99 per cent of the drugs in the country are generic. He invited the public to give written complaints if they come across any difference in the MRP printed on the strip compared to NPPA rates. Meanwhile, Red Cross India Nellore Unit chairman, Dr AV Subhramanyam, has suggested to the government to print GENERIC in bold red letters prominently on the strips of generic medicines to prevent manufacturing companies from cheating the public.

“The public can't tell whether the medicines are generic or not since all the generic medicines have trade names with five-fold increase in MRP rates. Medical shops have been selling generic trade name medicines as regular medicines with MRP and some of them offer 10 to 15 per cent discount to attract customers,” Dr Subhramanyam alleged.

Dr Subhramanyam, who is responsible for opening an exclusive generic medicines outlet near the district court in Nellore a few years back, says there is no need to start separate generic medical shops with the support of the government if GENERIC is printed in bold letters and authentic MRP on medicine boxes.

Meanwhile, Telangana state chemists association president Suman Gupta said, The registered retailers give medicines according to the prescription by doctors.” In cities no such incidents have been reported where people are forced to buy full strips.

DEPUTY DIRECTOR of Drug Control Department B. Suresh Babu invited the public to give written complaints if they come across any difference in the MRP printed on the strip compared to NPPA rates.