The boycott of Plethico Pharma's (a Shreya Life Sciences subsidiary) products by Kerala and Bengal may spread to other states, according to trade sources. The one-month-long boycott began with the traders in both states urging the company to grant the share of their commission inclusive of excise duty of 16 per cent. Shreya had recently made it exclusive of the excise duty.

Plethico Pharma used to offer traders margin inclusive of excise duty. However, after its takeover by Shreya Life Sciences in January 2003, excise duty was withdrawn from the commission.

AIOCD as whole is non-supportive of the boycott. "AIOCD requested traders in both states to withdraw the boycott, but with no result. There are several states within AIOCD that support the boycott. Perhaps the boycott might spread to other southern states and some northern states," said sources.

When contacted, sources within Kerala druggist association said it held a series of meetings with company officials during last week and some solution for the problem will emerge by the end of this week. The Bengal association members refused to comment over the matter.

According to a source at the Maharashtra State Chemists and Druggists Association (MSCDA), the trading community had an understanding with the industry on the inclusion of excise duty from the commission to the traders depending on factors like pricing of a particular product and inclusion of the product in the DPCO.

For scheduled drugs (products in DPCO), the commission offered for wholesalers is 8 per cent and for retailers it is 16 per cent. For decontrolled products the commission is 10 per cent for wholesalers and 20 per cent for retailers.