In order to accomplish timely issuance of retail and wholesale licenses, the Uttar Pradesh Food Safety and Drug Administration (UPFDA) has set up an online drug store registration and licencing system for pharmacists. The online system is the first of its kind developed by a state drug control authority with help from National Informatics Centre (NIC) which will ensure transparency and hence patient safety.

The system is foolproof and seamless as it doesn't allow duplication of forms and hence will help in the veracity of the registrations and licenses in the state. On successful registration, the system generates a unique registration number for the application which is used for further processing of the registration. Two forms are filled to start forward the process of registration with a consolidated fee of Rs. 3000 to be renewed every five years.

The state currently has 79 drug inspectors to inspect over one lakh drug retail stores in the state. Says D K Tiwari, drug inspector, UPFDA, "The system is transparent and will ensure that professional ethics of pharmacists continue in the larger public interest. Online data with the system is currently hosted in NIC cloud and is going to be shifted to the data centre of the state government as a part of the government policy to make the system more effective. We are also continuously upgrading the system for effective data handling. The system also offers a grievance redressal mechanism to address the problems of retail drug store owners or pharmacists."

As per the conditions of registration, applicants are required to have a valid personal e-mail ID and mobile number which should be kept active. The name of the applicant should be spelt correctly in the application as it appears in the license.

Printout of the "Forms" with fee challan and supported documents are required as part of the application to be submitted to the District Licensing Authority Office, within 15 days from the date of submission of application online.

NIC, under the department of electronics and information technology of the government of India, is a premier science and technology organisation, at the forefront of the active promotion and implementation of information and communication technology (ICT) solutions in the government. NIC has spearheaded the e-governance drive in the country for the last three decades building a strong foundation for better and more transparent governance and assisting the governments endeavour to reach the unreached.