Kamasutra condom manufacturer moves HC against govt’s cap on price
The manufacturer of Kamasutra condoms has moved the Delhi high court challenging the government’s decision to cap the price of its range of male contraceptives. A bench of chief justice G Rohini and justice Sangita Dhingra Sehgal is likely to hear the matter on August 12. The company, JK Ansell, has challenged the Centre’s March 2, 2016 order whereby the ceiling price for one unit of condom was fixed at Rs 8.21 plus local taxes with effect from April 1. The company has contended that the decision was taken “without taking into account the different varieties of condoms available in the market and the costs incurred for manufacture of such varieties of condoms, thereby treating unequals equally”.
It has claimed that the order came even as its plea was pending in the Supreme Court against a Delhi HC finding that condoms are drugs. The high court while giving its ruling had also set aside two price fixation orders of the government, Ansell has said in its plea which also seeks a declaration that the standards for contraceptives prescribed in the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules are ultra vires the Drugs and Cosmetics Act. Apart from seeking quashing of the March 2, 2016 decision of the government, the company has also sought an order that only utility or basic condoms are covered by the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO), 2013 and “not pleasure and polyisoprene condoms”. The company has also sought a declaration from the court that its ‘Kamasutra Skyn’ condoms do not come under the purview of the DPCO, 2013. The production cost really differ a lot for each type and materials, such as polyurethane condom’s cost at least 5-10 times higher than normal latex condoms.
