Health Ministry releases draft rules on sale of drugs by e-pharmacies

Online pharmacies will need to register with the government of India to sell medicines through the internet and will be bound a set of new draft rules that were notified by the health ministry recently.

The new draft rules require online pharmacies to be registered with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) and obtain a trade licence — applicable across India — from any state government. As per the estimates, the total e-pharma industry is less than 0.5% of the retail pharmacy landscape currently, but is growing at more than 100% rate.