E-pharmacists warned against rule violation | Fusion - WeRIndia

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) stated that it will ban companies selling medicines online in case of any violations of rules by the companies. This was stated in an announcement on Monday. Furthermore, the DCGI gave directions to take action against e-pharmacies to all state governments and Union territories in case of any violations of regulations by the e-pharmacy companies.

As of now, there is no rule which bans selling of medicines online despite a media report which states so. However, drugs cannot be sold without having a doctor’s prescription. In order to look into this issue, the government has formed a seven member panel. The panel will take care of the issue related to online drug sales and any violations of rules by e-pharmacy companies.

In India, the sale and distribution of drugs is regulated by the Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940, and the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945. According to rules in the act, drugs can only be sold when there is a prescription from a registered medical practitioner.

Currently there are many businesses in the online pharmacy sector. They are the major players in the sector. They are: Online Doctor, Toppills, Medplussmart, Pharmlex, Topgenericmeds, CanDrugStore, Medicare, Medsnoprescriptiononline, PharmaEasy, Merapharmacy, Netmeds, 3G Chemist, Planetdrugsdirect, Pharmstore and Doctorsolve.

In order to tackle any issues relating to the online sale of drugs, the DCGI has industry body Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI). FICCI was given the task to form guidelines for the sale of medicines online through e-commerce channels.

The government made a move to regularize the online sale of medicines. However, this move was met with harsh backlash. In October 2015, chemists all over the country have observed a one day strike in order to protest the move by government. They demanded a ban on it.

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