Guide to safe online medicine shopping by the government

The number of apps for online medicine shopping has increased dramatically. And with a dramatic increase, the safety of customers is a great responsibility of the government and an app to order medicines in India. 

Because of safe online medicine shopping for customers, the government has implemented various rules and regulations on apps, which have to be followed by them. Most medical ecommerce websites also uses these set of rules you can check this site for an example.

The rules and regulations of The government for online medicine shopping are-

App to order medicines will not sell, stock, exhibit, or offer the sale of drugs until licensed under the government. 

People conducting the business of online medicine shopping will apply for the grant of registration to the Central Licensing Authority in Form 18 through the online portal of the Central Government. A sum of INR Rs. 50,000 needs to be accompanied by the application for registration to the authority. The registration holder will comply with provisions of the Information Technology Act, 2000.

The app to order medicines has to take only one license in any state and can sell drugs all over the country even if they have one license.

The registration issued to any person for online medicine shopping will remain valid for 3 years from the date of its issuance. In case it wants to continue, the renewal of registration will have to be done.

The new online medicine shopping app will register with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO). It is India’s apex drug regulator and central licensing authority. The app to order medicines needs to register the medicines it is going to sell to its customers.

The premises of the online medicine shopping app will be inspected every 2 years by a team of officers authorized by the Central Licensing Authority. The officers will or will not be the experts in the relevant field can be authorized by the concerned State Licensing Authority.

The app to order medicines will not sell medicines until a valid prescription signed by the general practitioner is provided by customers to the app.

The sale of tranquilizers, psychotropic drugs, narcotics, and habit-forming drugs has been prohibited through portals.

The patient’s details will be kept confidential and not be disclosed by the app to order medicines to any person other than the central government or the state government concerned, as the case may be. 

A cash or credit memo will be generated on the portal of online medicine shopping on the supply of any medicines. These memos will be maintained by the registration holder of an app to order medicines as a record for the government.

The online medicine shopping portals are mandatorily required to have at least 12 hours and all seven days a week customer support and grievance redress of all stakeholders. The customer support will have a registered pharmacist to answer the queries of customers through a customer helpline.

The app to order medicines will not advertise any drug on radio, television, internet, print, or any other media for any purpose.  

If an app to order medicine follows all the regulations, then it is safe to be used by customers in India.