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Drug price control

Every story on Drug price control in the news so far, newest first, with the key Prelims facts and the previous-year questions UPSC has asked on it.

In the news

Supreme Court reserves order on why most medicines stay outside price control 28 October 2026 · The Hindu
Scheduled drugs are only 18% of the market by price. Who decides what the other medicines cost?
Centre to cap trade margins on 110 non-scheduled cancer drugs at 30% 9 October 2026 · Indian Express
Trade mark-ups on some cancer drugs reach 700%. Can a 30% margin cap close that gap?
Editorial: Supreme Court flags ten-fold drug markups, exposing gaps in price control 1 October 2026 · The Hindu
A cancer drug sold to the chemist at ₹2,700 reaches the patient at ₹27,000. Who decides that, and who stops it?

On 27 October 2026 a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta reserved orders on a plea to bring non-scheduled medicines under price control. (28 October 2026)
The Centre said scheduled (price-capped) medicines are 35% of the market by volume and 18% by price. (28 October 2026)
The Centre plans to cap trade margins on about 110 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs at 30%, expecting MRPs to fall by up to 70% and patients to save about ₹2,500 crore a year. (9 October 2026)
Non-scheduled drugs fall outside DPCO 2013 price ceilings; their makers may raise MRPs by up to 10% a year. (9 October 2026)
The DPCO, 2013 is issued under Section 3 of the Essential Commodities Act, 1955 and is administered by the NPPA. (1 October 2026)
Ceiling price of a scheduled medicine = simple average PTR of brands with at least 1% market share, plus a 16% retailer margin. (1 October 2026)