Online pharmacies could face stricter check-ups
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New Delhi: The government is working on tightening regulation and scrutiny on online pharmacy platforms delivering medicines within 10-60 minutes amid increasing complaints over unverified prescriptions and mushrooming of such platforms, officials said."The surge in complaints about various e-pharmacy platforms bypassing safeguards such as verification of prescriptions, age-gating and lack of supervision has increased in alarming proportions," an official at the health and family welfare ministry told ET.There has been a proliferation of e-pharmacy platforms in recent months. PhonePe's Pincode introduced 10-minute medicine deliveries in Bengaluru, Pune, and Mumbai in April. Private pharmacy chain Davaindia has started 60-minute deliveries in Pune. Zeelab Pharmacy, which raised $2.4 million from OTP Ventures earlier this year, has started 60-minute deliveries in Delhi-NCR.These are in addition to rapid expansion of large platforms such as Tata 1mg, PharmEasy and Netmeds.While some of these platforms connect consumers with medical stores in the vicinity, others deliver the medicines and drugs through dark stores (or warehouses where stocks are stored and delivered to consumers) similar to quick-commerce grocery deliveries.As reported by ET last week, dark stores selling grocery products and daily essentials are under the scrutiny of the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and Maharashtra food and drug administration (FDA) amid mounting incidents of hygiene and storage lapses.Packaged foods companies, too, have flagged urgent concerns over hygiene standards at such dark stores.At present, there are no specific regulations that exclusively govern e-pharmacies. The Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Rules don't explicitly legalise online pharmacies The government is preparing a new law to replace the existing drug regulations, which are not clearly defined.The latest move by the government on e-pharmacies is over and above the Drugs Technical Advisory Board planning to set up a sub-committee to examine withdrawal of doorstep delivery of drugs , following a demand by industry body All-India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists ( AIOCD ).The association has demanded withdrawal of a government notification that allows doorstep delivery of drugs, a facility which was allowed during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020. "Emergency phase of the pandemic no longer exists, therefore, the notification is no longer relevant and should be revoked immediately," it said in a letter to health minister JP Nadda.AIOCD represents 1.24 million chemists and distributors.The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had in 2018 issued draft amendments to the Drugs and Cosmetics Rules, 1945, for inclusion of rules to regulate online sale of drugs, inviting objections and suggestions from all stakeholders.The chemists' body challenged the notification before the Delhi High Court. In December 2018, the court, in an interim order, had stayed the sale of drugs without licence by online pharmacies. Crisil report on the online pharmacy market estimated that e-pharmacies currently contribute 3-5% of the country's retail pharmacy market, compared to 22-25% in some developed countries. The report valued the overall retail pharmacy market at close to '2.4 lakh crore, led by an unorganised sector with 85% share.The report said online pharmacies "have immense growth potential given their under-penetration in the country." E-pharmacies selling wellness products, medical equipment and other such high-margin products to their mix will add to their growth and profitability, it added.
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