In
September, the Union health ministry came out with draft rules on the sale of
drugs by e pharmacies.
The union government is expected to come out with final regulations for the companies selling medicines online by the end of this month, Drugs Controller General of India Eswara Reddy said on Friday. The aim is to regulate the sale of medicines through e-pharmacy across the country and provide patients access to genuine drugs from authentic portals only. He said they already have examined the comments of stakeholders on draft regulations, which were released in September. “The biggest hurdle for the growth of online pharmacy is that we do not have any regulations. By the end of this month, the government is going to finalise the regulations,” he said here at the Global Venture Summit. Currently, there are no regulations for such entities.
The union government is expected to come out with final regulations for the companies selling medicines online by the end of this month, Drugs Controller General of India Eswara Reddy said on Friday. The aim is to regulate the sale of medicines through e-pharmacy across the country and provide patients access to genuine drugs from authentic portals only. He said they already have examined the comments of stakeholders on draft regulations, which were released in September. “The biggest hurdle for the growth of online pharmacy is that we do not have any regulations. By the end of this month, the government is going to finalise the regulations,” he said here at the Global Venture Summit. Currently, there are no regulations for such entities.
Regulations
will help investors understand the risk and benefits of investing in the
sector, he added. Currently, the market size of the retail sale of medicines is
about Rs 1.2 lakh crore.
The
market size of online sale of medicines is about Rs 3,500 crore, and is
expected to increase to Rs 25,000 crore in the next 3-4 years, he said. The
habit-forming drugs (narcotic and psychotropic substances) would not be allowed
to sell through this platform, he added. In September, the Union health
ministry came out with draft rules on the sale of drugs by e-pharmacies.
According to the draft rules on ‘sale of drugs by e-pharmacy’, no person will be
allowed to distribute or sell, stock, exhibit or offer for sale of drugs
through the e-pharmacy portal unless registered.
“Any
person who intends to conduct the business of e-pharmacy shall apply for the
grant of registration to the Central Licensing Authority in Form 18AA through
the online portal of the Central government,” the draft notification had said.
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