Following a complaint raised by the All India Chemists & Distributors Federation (AICDF) against pharma major Torrent Pharmaceuticals for withholding supplies to the erstwhile stockists of Elder Pharmaceuticals, wholesalers from Uttar Pradesh have written to the director general of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) stating that the Ahmadabad-based pharma company is violating all the laws of pharma trade and indulging in illegal trade practice.

The Uttar Pradesh chemists & distributors Association (UPCDA) also approached the CCI with the same complaint and sought justice for good trade practice.

The traders have alleged that the pharma company has stopped supplies to a certain number of wholesalers nationwide because of strict instruction from all India Organisation of Chemists & Druggists (AIOCD). The wholesalers who were previously the stockists of Elder Pharmaceuticals, whose branded domestic formulations were acquired by Torrent last year, are members of AICDF. They are now not getting products from Torrent.

The president of UPCDA, Vibha Shankar Singh,  says that AIOCD wanted Torrent to obtain NOC from the state unit of the all India trade body to effect supplies. He told Pharmabiz that there was an agreement between Torrent and UPCDA in June this year, followed by it, it resumed supply for a few days. Immediately AIOCD has intervened and stopped supplies.

Seeking justice for good trade practice, the UPCDA president wrote to the CCI that Torrent is violating provisions of Drugs and Cosmetics Act and the Clause 28a of the Drugs Price Control Order (DPCO). The D&C Act 1940 and Rules framed there regulate the manufacture, sale and distribution of drugs in the country. The drugs control administration (DCA) is solely responsible for the enforcement of the Act. No other private body can regulate or intervene in this sector. Violating this rule, AIOCD is controlling the whole pharma trade in the country.

The West Bengal branch of AICDF had filed a case in this connection with the competition commission last month. Since there are several manufacturing companies accepting the dictates of AIOCD, the Federation has apprised the matter to the department of pharmaceuticals and to the union health ministry for immediate action.