The Jan Swasthya Abhiyan (JSA) and the Working Group on Access to Medicines and Treatment have called for regulation of charges levied by private hospitals and ceilings on trade margins for medicines, medical devices and medical consumables, amid renewed scrutiny by the Supreme Court of pricing practices in hospital pharmacies.
The Supreme Court has recently questioned steep markups on medicines sold through hospital pharmacies and practices that require patients to purchase medicines from hospital-linked pharmacies. The court has also asked the government to examine regulation of trade margins. They are now demanding that the Centre and States introduce ceilings on charges levied by private hospitals for procedures, services and treatment and establish accessible, time-bound mechanisms through which patients can challenge excessive or unjustified bills. K.M.
The groups, in a statement issued on Monday (October 5, 2026), said patients continued to face high and arbitrary charges for treatment, medicines and consumables, with limited avenues to challenge hospital bills.
The groups said the absence of a uniform mechanism to regulate hospital charges had left patients vulnerable to hefty bills, particularly for prolonged hospitalisation and procedures involving multiple medicines, devices and consumables. Gopakumar, co-convener, Working Group on Access to Medicines and Treatment, said that the maximum retail price (MRP) cannot become a licence to charge patients many times the procurement price.
The group, in its statement, has called for a stronger public healthcare system alongside regulation of private providers, including increased public health spending and strengthening of government hospitals to provide accessible care. The demands include immediate regulation of trade margins on medicines, medical devices and consumables; ceilings on private hospital charges; a competition-law review of potentially anti-competitive practices; and an independent and time-bound grievance redress mechanism for patients.
The group has also cited earlier concerns raised by the Competition Commission of India (CCI) regarding margins in pharmaceutical sales and incentives created when hospitals or hospital pharmacies control the products patients are required to purchase.
