The National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority has enforced a cap on the prices of 42 essential medicines, which will reduce their cost by 15%. These include drugs to treat cancer, asthma, tuberculosis, epilepsy, cardiac ailments and depression, PTI reported.

In a notification on its website, the drug price regulator said it has “fixed/revised ceiling prices of 45 scheduled formulations of Schedule-I under Drugs (Price Control) Amendment Order, 2016.” An official said the cost of 42 of these 45 medicines had been brought down by up to 15%.

Manufacturers that do not comply with the ceiling price will be asked to deposit the amount overcharged, in addition to interest under the provisions of the Drugs (Price Control) Order, 2013, the regulator said. Under the order, the NPPA has fixed the retail price of 12 other formulations, besides fixing/revising the “ceiling prices of 32 scheduled formulations packs of IV Fluids”.