The Bangalore District Druggists & Chemists Association (BDDCA) is expected to launch a city-wide protest against the entry of the medical chain stores beginning next month. According to the Association's Trade Action Committee, the mushrooming of pharmacy chain stores is expected to affect the future of 3,000 retail and wholesale outlets in Bangalore. In this connection, the BDDCA has issued a notice to all the manufacturers and pharmacy wholesalers that it will launch an indefinite non-cooperation movement on chain stores and their franchisees which will be followed by picketing of chain stores and a hunger strike.

At the BDDCA Executive Committee meeting, the members unanimously adopted that in order to safeguard the pharmacy trade from the onslaught of medical chain stores and their franchisees entering the fray the distributors would ensure that no direct supplies would be made available to the existing chain stores.

In Bangalore, there are around seven to eight chain stores operating under the banner of Apollo Pharmacy, Apollo Clinic's Mera Healthcare, Medicine Shoppe, Trust Pharmacy (Bangalore-based initiative) and Health & Glow (RPG Enterprises). The chain stores have their franchisee outlets in each locality and the total number is estimated to be around 50. Massive expansions are going on in the medical retail chain outlets which will is going to have a serious negative impact on the trade sector. It is expected that several chemists will be out of business if new licenses are issued to the chain stores, said V Harikrishnan, president, BDDCA.

The chain stores like Trust and Apollo Pharmacy have started central warehousing systems where they purchase drugs directly from the manufacturers. In the process they get a commission of 10 per cent from the manufacturer and the latter will make a kill from the warehousing option. Another issue of the chain store concept is the home delivery option and orders are taken over phone and not via prescription which violates the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, he stated.

Meanwhile the Karnataka Dugs Control department in late September 2003, had constituted a Guidelines Committee for Grant of New Licenses headed by Ramakrishna Gandhi, deputy drugs controller to check the concentration of pharmacy trade outlets and restrict issue of trade licenses. The Guidelines Committee for Grant of New Licenses is represented not just by the drug control department officials but also members of the trade.

The BDDCA in a representation to the State Drugs Controller has requested to keep the approval for setting up of chain store franchisees as pending, until such time the Committee comes out with its report to prove the that existing pharmacy outlets in the city are in excess through its survey based on the number of chemist shops and population it is serving in each locality in the city.