Prescription medicine is being sold above controlled prices, says Economic Ministry

The Ministry of Economic Development has said that prescription medicine is being sold above controlled prices by some pharmacies.

In a statement issued today, the ministry said that the controlled prices for medicine, to be followed by wholesalers and pharmacies, are determined according to the policies stated in Article 15 of the Import Regulation.

The regulation states that it is prohibited to sell price-controlled commodities above controlled prices.

The ministry said that it had received several reports, of price-controlled commodities being sold above controlled prices.

The statement highlighted that the purpose of having controlled prices is to make certain commodities such as medicine affordable to everyone.

The ministry urged those violating this regulation to reduce their prices to the controlled prices.

The ministry also reminded that first offenders of this regulation may be fined between MVR 500 and MVR 100,000, and repeating this offence may be result in a fine between MVR 5,000 and MVR 100,000.