Draft guidelines for online pharmacies raise over-regulation worries

摘要

The recently released draft guidelines for the online pharmacy industry have raised several questions for players operating in the burgeoning space, including on a possible overlapping role of state governments. The gazette notification, released on August 28, states that all e-pharmacies have to register with the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation, the apex drug regulator and central licensing authority. But the rules also give state governments the power to cancel registrations, leading to fears of over-regulation in a space that has emerged as, a sunrise sector over the last three years.