Modi Government 2.0 Looks To Introduce E-Pharmacy Project Within First 100 Days Of Power

Harbingering a phase of holistic growth for the e-pharmacy sector in India, the Ministry of Health officials are set to meet with industry stakeholders on 10 June to finalise the rules to lay the path for formal recognition and regulation of online pharmacies in India, reports Livemint.

The new government is aiming for the roll-out the e-pharmacy project in its very first 100 days of being in power, given it had already released the draft rules in 2018. This has ignited hopes among India's more than 50 startups including fabled ones like Netmeds, 1mg and PharmEasy which sell medicines online in India, given they expect the development to bring in much needed regulatory clarity to the sector.

The proposed e-pharmacy rules had been opened for public comments in September 2018 post which the government received more than 7,000 representations favouring the draft document while only 350 comments from associations of offline chemists as well as individuals opposed the document's promulgation.

The boost for the e-pharmacy sector in India will further aid the Prime Minister (PM) Narendra Modi's pet project of Digital India. Also, PM Modi is said to be keen to give teeth to the online pharmacy business within the first 100 days which would allow e-pharmacies to function at par with physical drug stores.