DRUG COMPANIES TO PAY EXCISE ON
60% MRP
In a partial relief to drug makers, the finance
ministry today allowed them to assess the excise duty on 60%
of the declared retails price, as against the existing 65%.
The decision follows the demand from the
pharmaceutical industry and trade for a relaxation in the
new regime of calculating duty on 65% of the maximum retail
price, which came into effect on January 8. Earlier, the duty
was calculated on the first point of sale or ex-factory price,
which the government said the industry misused to give huge
margins to traders, sometimes as high as 1,000%. The new system
was aimed to curb this, as the firms would be forced to pay
duty on the margins too.
