Medicines Aren't Groceries: AIOCD Urges PM to Shut Down Illegal Online Pharmacies After Blinkit Sting
New Delhi: In a forceful appeal highlighting a deepening public health threat, the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), representing over 12.40 lakh licensed brick-and-mortar pharmacies, has urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to immediately stop illegally operating e-pharmacies and withdraw GSR 817 and GSR 220, warning that continued negligence could push India toward a severe medical disaster.
AIOCD President J. S. Shinde and General Secretary Rajiv Singhal have stated that various e-pharmacy and quick-commerce platforms are selling medicines—especially antibiotics—online without any statutory license, qualified pharmacists, or regulatory compliance. This is creating a serious health crisis in the country, which AIOCD has been warning the Government about for a long time.
The organisation said this unchecked practice has created a serious health crisis, which has now been exposed at scale by a recent India Today investigation.
Recently, a sting operation conducted by India Today revealed that platforms like Blinkit are getting prescription medicines approved within less than a minute through fake and unidentified “doctors.” The investigation also found that prescription-only antibiotics are being approved by such “doctors” whose name, qualification, or clinic details are not available.
Medical experts have called this unethical, illegal, and a direct cause of India’s rising Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR).
AIOCD stressed that e-pharmacy platforms are in blatant violation of multiple Indian laws, including:
- Drugs & Cosmetics Act, 1940
- Pharmacy Act
- Telemedicine Guidelines
- Medical Ethics Regulations
Despite this, the platforms continue to distribute medicines “without any accountability.”
Highlighting that the health of Indian Citizens is at serious risk, the AIOCD noted India is already facing one of the highest AMR burdens, which could lead to up to 50 lakh deaths per year in the future.
In such a situation, selling medicines without proper evaluation and through unidentified prescribers is an invitation to a national health disaster.
Furthermore, the AIOCD has stated,
“Medicines are not grocery items; healthcare cannot be run like e-commerce.”
In this context, the organisation formally urged PM Modi to:
1.Immediately stop all illegal e-pharmacies operating in the country, in accordance with the Delhi High Court order dated 12.12.2018.2.Conduct a high-level inquiry into the illegal “doctor-on-call” model of Blinkit and other such platforms.3.Withdraw GSR 817 and GSR 220 to prevent unregulated online sale of medicines.4.Strictly enforce that medicines are dispensed only by licensed brick-and-mortar pharmacies with registered pharmacists.
