Even as state drugs control departments are tightening surveillance on online pharmacy players, the Indian Internet Pharmacy Association (IIPA) says it is willing to engage with the regulators to evolve a model that works well with all stakeholders.

Calling for compliance of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Rules by both online and offline players, IIPA believes the notification from the regulator stalling online pharmacies is targeted at violators. Members of IIPA comply with the Act and do not violate its provisions, Prashant Tandon, president, IIPA told Pharmabiz in an email.

Moreover, ePharmacy networks are compliant with the IT Act for the web platform and the pharmacy vendors who finally dispense medicines are compliant with the D&C Act, he added. However, IIPA insists that both online and offline violators should be addressed with the same yardstick.

Agreeing with the IIPA president, Hemant Bhardwaj, co-founder, MD and CEO, PM Health and Life Care said, “Online will be a preferred channel for a significant part of the Indian population to order medicines and healthcare products. It will co-exist with traditional channels. We see them collaborating rather than competing. Even the government understands about the value technology can bring to the ecosystem. The online pharmacy will bring in transparency in business, ensure patient safety and prescription adherence and choke fakes. So it is important that regulators enable this channel.”

Most of the organised online pharmacies such as members of IIPA are run by entrepreneurs with professional backgrounds and strong credibility. We are operating in this space to build a long-term business. We believe in operating a model that is positive and better than the current options available to the consumer. We look forward to continuing our engagement with the regulator and continuing to grow our business in full compliance with legal requirements. eHealth is a key pillar of Digital India. We are confident the regulator will take more proactive measures to enable the right models while making sure that non-compliant models are addressed, said Tandon.

Dharmil Sheth, co-founder and director, PharmEasy says the government has not given any order stalling online pharmacies but has advised state regulators to keep a strict vigil on online pharmacies which are found violating the D&C Act. As far as IIPA members are concerned, they are not dealing with Schedule X drugs like sleep inducing medicines, psychotropic and habit-forming drugs. Also, none of the orders are processed without a valid prescription.

IIPA believes the regulator’s move will not endanger jobs of online pharmacists. “We offer a lot of value-added work to pharmacists and they get to work on high quality medicine information, data and latest trends in the world for medicine. All the pharmacists are regularly trained,” said Tandon.

“Our standpoint has been very clear. We propose to have a level-playing field for online or offline and it should be a case of compliant versus non-compliant rather than online vs offline. Investments usually are made as a validation of the model and hopefully it should have a positive way forward. It is high time, we take a progressive stand and move towards the vision of Digital India,” said Sheth.