The Madras High Court has banned the online sale of medicines, after a plea from the Chennai-based Tamil Nadu Chemists & Druggists Association. The interim order at first created some confusion, but yesterday, the court clarified that the restraint order would apply only to firms that sell medicines without valid licenses. With this order from the court, the fight between the traditional drug sellers and online e-pharmacies took a new turn. The court also directed the Centre to respond and posted the matter for further hearing on November 9.
The Chemists & Druggists Association demanded to block links of websites selling medicines online as purchasing medicines from unlicensed online stores can pose serious health risks as they may sell fake, expired, contaminated, unapproved or unsafe products that are dangerous to patients. The petitioners also said that as rules for selling drugs in India are based on the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, the Drugs and Cosmetics Rule, 1945 and the Pharmacy Act, 1948, which were written prior to the arrival of computers, and India does not legalize the online sale of medicines.
The traditional medical shops, which numbers about eight lakhs, under the banner of All India Organization of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) have been protesting against the proliferation of e-pharmacies in the country for the last few years. Following this, the Drug Controller General of India (DGCI), in 2017, had formed a seven-member panel to look into the issue of online drug sales and had suggested licensing the pharmacies. As per the draft guidelines which are yet to be legalized, e-pharmacies have to register with the DCGI and they should pay a fee of Rs 50,000, which will be valid for three years. Moreover, e-pharmacies will not be allowed to sell narcotic drugs, tranquilisers, and Schedule X drugs and also not allowed to advertise any drugs.
About 250-280 online pharmacies are estimated to have come up in the country and their presence has grown to a worth of Rs. 800-1000 crore in the Indian drug market which has a turnover of Rs 1.2 lakh crore a year. It is estimated that leaders in this field like netmeds, 1MG, Lifecare, Medlife and Pharmacy have so far raised over Rs 1,700 crore from venture capitalists and are aggressively marketing their business. As they offer huge discounts ranging from 25 percent to 60 per cent, besides offering value-added services and free home delivery, the online platform has become far too overpowered, compared to the traditional arena.
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