Over 200 pharmacies face legal action for fixing medicine prices, says competition watchdog

More than 200 pharmacies face legal action for allegedly fixing medicine prices in breach of Namibia’s competition law, the Namibian Competition Commission (NaCC) has revealed.

The commission this week said it plans to take legal action against the pharmacies.

This was revealed by NaCC economist Justin Muyendekwa during a regional stakeholders engagement at Outapi earlier this week.

“The pharmacies are overcharging their clients. They are over-pricing their products by charging more than 50% on the actual price. These pricing indexing is not allowed and anyone found guilty will face the law,” he said.

Muyendekwa said medicine has become expensive due to pharmacies “refusing to comply with our mandate”.

He said the NaCC already has a pending case in court against pharmacies overcharging clients.

Pharmacies that are members of the Pharmaceutical Society of Namibia (PSN) currently operate under a mandatory rule to charge a mark-up tariff of 50% on the actual price of the medicine they dispense.

According to the NaCC, the PSN and its member pharmacies had agreed to maintain the 50% mark-up tariff without reasonable justification.

However, the commission said it was not persuaded by the reasons the pharmaceutical society provided to justify maintaining the 50% pricing structure.

“The conduct of the respondents, therefore, amounts to a decision, agreements and concerted practices to fix prices and trading conditions as a contravention of the Competition Act,” the NaCC said.

The regulator said it has issued fines amounting to more than N$54 million to non-compliant business institutions.

In an age of information overload, Sunrise is The Namibian’s morning briefing, delivered at 6h00 from Monday to Friday. It offers a curated rundown of the most important stories from the past 24 hours – occasionally with a light, witty touch. It’s an essential way to stay informed. Subscribe and join our newsletter community.