The Union government told the Supreme Court on Monday, 12 October 2026, that it has decided to cap trade margins on anti-cancer medicines at 30% of the maximum retail price (MRP). Solicitor General Tushar Mehta made the statement before a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, according to News On AIR and LiveLaw.
The cap will apply to a list of cancer medicines that the Centre will notify. That list has not been published yet, and no date has been announced for the cap to take effect.
What has been decided
- The cap: the trade margin, which is the gap between the price at which a medicine reaches the trade and the MRP printed on the pack, is to be limited to 30% of the MRP for the listed drugs.
- Which drugs: the Centre will notify a list of anti-cancer medicines. Inexpensive medicines are to be left out. The list can be revised from time to time to add more drugs.
- Who decided: LiveLaw reports that an affidavit filed by the Department of Pharmaceuticals says the decision was taken at a meeting of the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) on 8 October 2026.
- Who picks the drugs: an expert committee under the Director General of Health Services is to recommend the medicines. As reported from the affidavit, it has been asked to do so within 10 to 15 days.
ETV Bharat, which reported on the outcome of the 8 October meeting, said the NPPA gave its approval "in principle" and used paragraph 19 of the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 2013. That paragraph gives the regulator special powers to act in the public interest. The cap is aimed at non-scheduled cancer medicines, meaning those that do not already have a government-fixed ceiling price.
How much prices may fall
The government estimates that the MRP of the covered medicines could come down by 20% to 70%, depending on how large the present mark-up on each product is. The reduction will differ from one medicine and brand to another. The expected saving for patients is put at about Rs 2,500 crore a year.
The same reports say the average trade mark-up on non-scheduled anti-cancer medicines is about 170%, and that it goes up to 700% in some cases.
This is not the first such step. In 2019 the NPPA capped trade margins at 30% for 42 non-scheduled anti-cancer drugs.
What the Supreme Court said
The bench is hearing petitions on medicine prices. LiveLaw gives the case as Kishan Chand Jain v. Ethics and Medical Registration Board, W.P.(C) No. 794/2023.
The judges asked why the cap should stop at cancer medicines. According to DT Next, Justice Vikram Nath asked why the government could not "bring all the medicines under this regime". The court pointed to the gap between the price charged to retailers and the printed MRP. Justice Sandeep Mehta gave the example of an Indian-made cardiac stent with a price to retailer of Rs 5,000 and an MRP of Rs 25,000. The Solicitor General replied that stents already have price caps.
For the Centre, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati said pricing is one part of policy and that too much intervention could affect the availability of medicines, LiveLaw reported.
What it means for patients
- Nothing changes at the pharmacy counter yet. The cap begins only after the list of medicines is notified and a start date is fixed.
- Not every cancer medicine will be covered. Low-priced medicines are to be excluded, and scheduled medicines already have ceiling prices.
- The fall in price will vary by brand. The 20% to 70% range is an estimate, not a promise for any single medicine.
- The cap deals with the margin printed into the MRP. It does not fix hospital charges. On that subject, see our report on the Centre asking States to make hospitals and clinics display treatment rates.
What happens next
The expert committee has to send its list of medicines, after which the government is expected to notify the drugs covered. The Supreme Court will take up the matter again on 27 October 2026.
