PCI Releases Draft Pharmacist Service Rules 2025, Proposes Unified National Cadre
New Delhi: The Pharmacy Council of India (PCI) has released the draft Pharmacist Recruitment, Promotion and Service Regulations, 2025, proposing a major restructuring of how pharmacists are recruited, promoted and positioned across public healthcare systems in the country.
The draft, approved during the PCI’s 120th Central Council meeting, has been circulated to all State Governments and Union Territories, with a three-month window provided for comments as required under Section 10(3) of the Pharmacy Act, 1948.
The proposed regulations aim to bring long-awaited uniformity to India’s pharmacy services by clearly defining the scope of pharmacy practice, dispensing, compounding, pharmaceutical care, distribution and patient counselling. The draft also outlines distinct pharmacist categories—including community, hospital, clinical and drug information pharmacists—ensuring that roles are clearly differentiated across healthcare settings. PCI has clarified that individuals already holding regular posts will not be affected at the outset, and areas not covered in the draft will continue to follow existing provisions of the Pharmacy Act, 1948 and Pharmacy Practice Regulations, 2015.
A structured national cadre system has been proposed, beginning with Pharmacy Officer and extending up to Joint Director (Pharmacy). Intermediate roles include Senior Pharmacy Officer, Assistant Chief Pharmacy Officer and Chief Pharmacy Officer. Each post carries a defined pay scale aligned with the 7th Central Pay Commission, and the draft also provides detailed eligibility norms, methods of recruitment, service requirements and promotion pathways. In addition, two specialized posts—Drug Information Pharmacy Officer and Clinical Pharmacy Officer—have been introduced to reflect the evolving clinical and evidence-based demands of the pharmacy profession.
The document lays out extensive job responsibilities for every position, spanning hospital pharmacy operations, patient counselling, emergency duties, adverse-drug-event monitoring, procurement and store management, supply-chain oversight, documentation, quality assurance, training of junior staff and public-health activities. Higher-level officers will be responsible for district-level coordination, policy implementation, regulatory compliance, administrative supervision, budgeting and representation in crucial committees related to drug management and therapeutic governance.
According to a recent media report in the Daily Excelsior, the PCI has asked all States and Union Territories to carefully examine the draft and submit structured feedback before the final regulations are notified in the Gazette and made applicable nationwide.
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