The Federation of Medical and Sales Representatives’ Associations of India (FMRAI) is planning to launch a nationwide campaign against the pharmaceutical companies appointing employees in violation of the Sales Promotion Employees (SPE) Act, 1976.

FMRAI alleges that the offenders include companies like Wockhardt, FDC, Pfizer, Sun Pharma, Aventis Pharma, Alkem Lab, Cipla, Korpan Limited, Abbot, Glenmark, Crosslands, Shreya Life Sciences, Glaxo Smithkline, Rexcel Pharma, IPCA Lab, Raptakos Brett, Aristo Pharma, Medley Pharma, Novartis, Macleods Pharma, Emcure Pharma, RPG Life Sciences, Nicholas Piramel, CFL Pharma etc.

Many of these companies are issuing appointment letters to the medical representatives as ‘Sales Officers’ or ‘territory heads’ or with similar designations, as if by the new nomenclature, the Sales Promotion Employees will be outside the provisions of the act and rules. This was in violation of section 2(d) and section 5, and Rule 22(1) of the SPE (Conditions and Service) Act, 1976 with amendment in 1986, which mandates pharma companies to issue appointment letters in prescribed Form A, said R.Viswanathan, president of FMRAI in an exclusive talk with Pharmabiz.

The FMRAI, which has already initiated agitation against some of the Mumbai based companies in this connection, is planning to launch similar campaign in the main pharmaceutical manufacturing hubs of the country, at Calcutta, Hyderabad, Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bangalore and Chennai. The national body of FMRAI has asked the regional level organizations to mobilize data on the offenders, and the campaign would begin soon after the parliament elections, said Viswanathan.

The organisation has already complained to the labour ministry of the Maharashtra Government against the offenders in that state. About 10,000 field workers of the Mumbai based companies from different parts of the country had held a demonstration at Nagpur during December last year, and submitted a memorandum in this regard to the State Labour Minister to ask the concerned authorities inspect the companies. Subsequently, the officials raided the premises of those companies and prima facie evidence was found against most of the offenders. The state was in the process of initiating action against these companies. In the same model, field workers representing various companies from different parts of the country would meet at the city of their head offices, and would represent to the concerned officials to book the violators in that region, elaborated the FMRAI president.

He noted that as per section 2(d) of the Act, “sales promotion employee means any person by whatever name called (including an apprentice) employed or engaged in any establishment for hire or reward to do any work relating to promotion of sales or business or both”. It is not the nomenclature, but the nature of work that determines whether he is a sales promotion employee or not.

Only those persons who are ‘employed or engaged in supervisory capacity’ or ‘mainly in a managerial or administrative capacity are excluded’ from the provisions of the Act. The Government should make necessary amendments to clearly elaborate and define the job profile of medical representatives, or otherwise, the companies would continue to misuse the loopholes in the Act with a view to curtail the employee benefits and right to join trade unions like FMRAI, said Viswanathan.

Many of the pharmaceutical companies were also not maintaining mandatory documents like details of the sales promotion employees as per prescribed Form B, service book of employees as per Form C, a register of service book in Form D, leave account of each employee in Form E etc. Though the Act provides punishments to the offending companies under section 9, none of the companies in the country have been convicted so far, said Viswanathan.