Amazon, RIL’s e-pharma plans alarm chemists – Times of India

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Bengaluru/Mumbai: Worried with the recent entry of biggies Amazon India and Reliance (RIL) into the e-pharmacy sector, All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) — representing 8.5 lakh chemists — is holding an all-India meeting of its executive committee on August 21 to finalise an action plan.
“We are planning to legally contest the entry of Amazon, and have already written to RIL. We will take a final decision on our strategy soon,” a senior AIOCD official told TOI.
AIOCD on August 19 wrote a letter to RIL CMD Mukesh Ambani, saying the acquisition of Netmeds will threaten the livelihood of medicine retailers and create a monopoly in a competitive market resulting in concentration of wealth for the group. The letter, also marked to PM Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah, poses a question on how shareholders of Reliance might react knowing it has entered a business (online sale of drugs), which is still not allowed under the laws. The Drugs and Cosmetics Act does not allow online sale of medicines. “They can be allowed once the government amends the law in consultation with stakeholders”, he added.
After Amazon started delivering medicines in Bengaluru last week, AIOCD had expressed similar concerns, terming its entry illegal. Last year, we found instances of Amazon selling schedule X drugs (narcotics-based) and banned medicines through its platform. We submitted the list to the government, but it is yet to take any action, he added.
Further, Mumbai-based PharmEasy is in the process of merging with Bengaluru-based rival Medlife.
“It is pertinent to mention that this move will not only threaten the livelihood of millions of our citizens, it will create a monopoly in a perfect competition market and of course create concentration of wealth while taking it away from our citizens and putting it in Reliance’s pocket,” the letter said.
Since regulations are weak, sale of sub-standard and spurious medicines, and misuse of antibiotics will get rampant through e-pharmacies, AIOCD feels. Also, the deep-discounting policy — up to 25% offered by big e-commerce companies will jeopardise hundreds of jobs (of chemists) and kill the industry.
Typically, for non-scheduled (not under price control) drugs, the wholesale and retail trade margin is 10% and 20% respectively.