How e-pharmacies are living but still on the edge

Ever since they came up a little less than a decade ago, e-pharmacies have been fighting a constant battle. On one hand there is the severe pushback from traditional pharmacy lobbies and on the other, the lack of a regulatory mechanism.

It was only in 2017 that the government officially acknowledged their existence. It was a small win, but a win nonetheless. But the draft e-pharmacy rules that the government came up with a year later were never notified.

Despite this, e-pharmacies continued operating and their importance was only highlighted further during the pandemic.

But in February this year, the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) sent show-cause notices to 20 e-pharmacies. These included Tata 1mg, Amazon, Flipkart, Reliance Retail-owned NetMeds, MediBuddy, Practo and Apollo.

However, e-pharmacies are here to stay.

Tune in to find out more