New Delhi: The government said demand notices of Rs 74.65 crore have been issued to pharmaceutical companies which have launched drugs without prior price approval from National Pharmaceuticals Pricing Authority (NPPA).

During the monitoring of compliance of DPCO 2013 by drug makers, it was seen that the provisions related to new drugs had not been followed in some cases and pharma firms have launched the formulations without taking prior price approval from NPPA, Minister of State for Chemicals & Fertilisers Mansukh L Mandaviya said in reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

The concerned companies were asked to furnish certified batch wise production and sales details along with the corresponding MRP for the formulations from the date of launch of the product till date, he added.

Out of this, an amount of Rs 1.05 crore has so far been recovered, he added.

The government is effectively monitoring the prices of scheduled medicines and taking action against companies found overcharging the consumers, Mandaviya said.