NEW DELHI: The
Drugs Controller General of India
(
DGCI
) on Thursday banned all charges on blood units, except supply and processing costs. DCGI has sent out a letter stating this to drug controller cum licensing authorities in all states and Union territories.
Referring to the meeting of Drugs Consultative Committee held in September last year, DCGI wrote, "It was recommended with respect of agenda No.
18 of ATR point 3, for overcharging of blood, it was opined that blood is not for sale, it is only for supply and only processing cost may be charged by a blood centre."
DCGI has also asked the drug controller cum licensing authorities to direct all blood centres to adhere to the revised guidelines for recovery of processing charges.
When a person donates blood, it is not transfused into a patient directly. The
donated blood
, referred to as whole blood, is processed in centrifuges to separate it into transfusable components. This includes red cells, platelets and plasma. The exercise is referred to as
blood processing
and a cost is incurred on this.
To standardise charges and put a cap on it, Centre released a guideline in 2022 stating that private
blood banks
cannot charge more than Rs 1,550 for processing whole blood. Processing charges for packed red cells, fresh frozen plasma, and platelet concentrate - all of which are required for transfusion in patients - have been capped at Rs 1,550, Rs 400, Rs 400 respectively for private labs. In government-run blood centres, the cost of processing whole blood and packed red cells have been capped at Rs 1,100.
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