NPPA cannot impose blanket drug price ceilings without following DPCO mechanism

The Bombay High Court has held that the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority cannot impose a blanket price ceiling on a drug formulation without following the price-fixation mechanism prescribed under the Drugs (Prices Control) Order, 1995. The ruling limits regulatory pricing action where the prescribed statutory mechanism for calculating and notifying a formulation-specific ceiling price has not been followed.