Govt steps in to regulate oxygen concentrators’ price, caps trade margin at 70%

Manufacturers and importers of oxygen concentrators have been asked to report the revised maximum retail prices (MRP) within three days to the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA), which invoked the extraordinary under Para 19 of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order (DPCO), 2013 to cap the trade margins. The NPPA is expected to inform the revised MRPs of oxygen concentrators in the public domain within a week.

“Every retailer, dealer, hospital, and institution shall display the price list as furnished by the manufacturer, on a conspicuous part of the business premises in a manner so that it is easily accessible to any person who is looking to consult the same”, the Ministry of Chemicals and Fertilizers said.

The manufacturers and importers who fail to comply with the revised MRP after Trade Margin capping will be liable to deposit the overcharged amount along with interest at the rate of 15 percent and penalty up to 100 percent. They will be punished under the DPCO, 2013 read with Essential Commodities Act, 1955.

The central government has given state drug controllers (SDCs) the responsibility to monitor the compliance of the order to ensure that no manufacturer, distributer, or retailer sells oxygen concentrators to any consumer at a price exceeding the revised MRP, to prevent instances of black-marketing.

The order is applicable up to November 30, 2021.

Oxygen concentrator is a non-scheduled drug and is presently under the voluntary licensing framework of Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO). Its price is being monitored under the provisions of DPCO 2013.