Taking note of the exorbitant increase in prices of medical devices which are much in demand during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Centre on Monday ruled that maximum retail price (MRP) of medical devices cannot be increased by more than 10 per cent in a year.
A notification issued by the government said all manufacturers and importers of devices such as pulse oximeter and oxygen concentrators need to submit MRP details of the devices that they sell in the prescribed format within 7 days, latest by May 22, to the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority of India (NPPA) that regulates prices of pharmaceutical drugs.
The NPPA referred to an earlier memorandum issued in March last year to bring these medical devices under the Essential Commodities Act. “In view of the above, all manufacturers/importers of aforesaid medical devices are hereby advised to ensure compliance of the provisions of Para 20 of the DPCO, 2013 failing which action may be initiated for violation of provisions of DPCO, 2013 read with Essential Commodities Act, 1955,” the notification said.