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Online pharmacies continue to operate with the latest circular from the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) not imposing any ban but only seeking strict adherence to the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Rules.
The circular dated December 30, a copy of which was seen by BusinessLine, has nowhere mentioned any temporary or permanent ban on these e-pharmacies, which act as a marketplace for offline medical stores. These online players do not directly sell any medicines.
The notice sent to various State FDAs states that there should be a strict vigil on the online sale of medicines. Prashant Tandon, founder of 1mg (formerly Healthkartplus) said: “We do not stock any medicines but get them fulfilled to our customers only after they upload the prescriptions. The fulfilment is done by the local stores present on our platform. We abide by all guidelines and have taken all measures, wherein customers cannot even search for any ‘sensitive’ medicines or schedule X medicines such as sleeping pills and drugs falling under narcotics, MTP kits or erectile dysfunction medicines.”
He further added that the circular does not specifically mention the kind of violation, and hence, there is no clarity on the same.
The Drugs and Cosmetic Rules, 1945, under which the circular has been issued, regulates the sale and distribution of drugs in the country and does not distinguish between conventional and over-the-Internet sale of drugs. However, in the recent past, a few trade bodies of offline pharmacies have filed complaints stating that online medical stores are violating provisions under the Act.
Dharmil Sheth, Founder of PharmEasy, a Mumbai-based online marketplace for small mom and pop medical stores, said: “I strongly feel it is a fight between the big organised players and small stores, who empowered with technology, are giving tough competition to the large players. There have been violations in the offline space too. For example, a drug such as Crocin also needs a prescription, but no one asks for it.”
Netmeds.com, another online player based out of Chennai, also is an aggregator of both organised and unorganised retailers. Its founder Pradeep Dadha said the company fully complies with all the rules stated by the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and does not allow any fulfilment of medicines without a proper prescription.
Meanwhile, a few industry experts tracking online retail are of the view that offline players could be miffed with the fact that online players offer better pricing with about 10-20 per cent discount, thus leading to the growing popularity of these sites. There are 15-20 odd online players who have come up in this space in the last few years.
In October last year, the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), an umbrella body of over eight lakh druggists and chemists, went on a nationwide strike to demand action against the “illegal” online sale of medicine.
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