CAIT claimed that the legal regime under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 does not permit home delivery of prescription medicines for which a prescription ‘in original’ is required Business Bureau : DOMESTIC traders body CAIT on Wednesday alleged malpractices and violation of rules by e-pharmacy firms, and urged the Government to take action against them. In a memorandum to Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) said it “has strongly raised the issue of malpractices being conducted in online pharmacy trade” and alleged that firms including Pharmeasy, and1Mg are conducting business practices in contravention of provisions of The Drug and Cosmetics Act, 1940. CAIT also alleged that these firms are misusing the e-commerce landscape by operating on low prices with 30-40 per cent discount and free shipping.

 

“It’s a case of capital dumping in these e-pharmacies by foreign behemoths. Which can prove extremely detrimental to the sustenance and future of the lakhs of small chemists across the country,” CAIT said. CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said, “Mushrooming of e-pharmacy is causing huge hardships to the retail chemists and distributors in the wake of anti-competitive practices like capital dumping and deep discounting leading to predatory pricing.” He added that e-pharmacies with their financial backing by large foreign players/funds have started disrupting brick-and-mortar retailers due to the unmatched and often unsustainable pricing.

 

CAIT claimed that the legal regime, under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, does not permit home delivery of prescription medicines for which a prescription ‘in original’ is required. Beside general e-commerce where rules are being flouted, the e-pharmacy has become another trade which is being targeted by these heavily funded companies to monopolise at the cost of uprooting of lakhs of chemists and medicine traders across the country.