NEW DELHI: The government may allow pharma companies one more month from the cut-off date of July 29 to re-label their essential drug products currently in the market and with distributors which will have revised lower prices mandated under drug price control order (DPCO), 2013.

However, this wouldn't mean that pharma firms can continue to sell these essential drugs at old higher rates, according to an official. "Drugmakers will have to send their revised price lists under the new DPCO separately to trade channels," the official said. Also, this marginal relief is likely to be restricted to the first set of 151 drugs, which were notified in June and the deadline for which was set for July 29. However, the government turned down an industry request to make price changes from the next batch after government notification on revised prices came.