India calls for meeting with e-pharma cos to discuss concerns over regulation and drug misuse

"There are multiple subjects on which the meeting will focus on and it includes regulating operations of e-pharma companies, maintaining patient data privacy, and rampant use of prescription drugs," the source said.

According to the union health ministry, e-pharmacies are violating various sections of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act of 1940. Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) had served show cause notices to illegal e-pharmacies in February for selling medicines on the internet in which they were asked to respond within two days or face strict action without any further notice on the sale and distribution of the drugs in the country.

Besides, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) issued show-cause notices to over 20 online pharmacies and online platforms, that includes some big players as well in the industry such as Tata1mg, Practo, Apollo Amazon, Flipkart, etc.

In the recent budget session of Parliament in March, the department-related Parliamentary Committee on Commerce had urged the union health ministry to notify the draft e-pharmacy rule and said it was "appalled" that the rules have not been finalised to date.

The panel said the undue delay in adopting a definitive regulatory framework results in uncertainty, which is not conducive for the fast pace digital markets and also the committee. It recommended the draft e-pharmacy rules are finalised and implemented without further delay.