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KPRDO urges state govt to frame State Rules for incorporating sections in D&C Rules
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Nandita Vijayasimha, Bengaluru
December 26 , 2025
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The Karnataka Pharma Retailers & Distributors Organization (KPRDO) has urged the state government to frame State Rules for incorporating sections in the Drugs & Cosmetics Rules. In this regard, it has proposed three points. First, only qualified and registered pharmacists should be issued licence to open retail outlets. In a partnership deal too, the non-qualified partner can have only 25 per cent stake and the remaining 75 per cent will be held by the qualified pharmacist.
Secondly, distance between 2 pharmacies should be not less than 150 meters in the city and not less than 100 meters in rural districts. This is to reduce the density of pharmacies in single place, thereby preventing unethical competition in the profession.
Thirdly, Schedule K should strictly and clearly specify that doctors’ premises can only stock a minimum quantity of medicines for ‘emergency’ use, without levying extra charges in their consultation fees.
If the Karnataka government enforces State Rules under the D&C Act and Rules, it will become the second state in the country after Punjab. Karnataka will undoubtedly gain recognition as a drug-free state. This comprehensive enforcement of the rules would strengthen the pharmacy profession, ensure ethical practices, and protect public health, said C Jayaram, president and V V Kapparshetter, secretary, KPRDO in their communication to the Karnataka health and family welfare minister Dinesh Gundu Rao.
Only qualified and registered pharmacists should operate pharmacies bringing in ethical practices. This will allow lifesaving medicines to be dispensed appropriately. Narcotics and psychotropic substances will not be easily available, they asserted.
Reinstating the need for State Rules, both Jayaram and Kapparshetter said the current concern is that in the absence of pharmacists, unqualified proprietors without knowledge of medicines are sometimes selling the lifesaving medicines.
Further, KPRDO also insisted in having a total ban on misleading advertisements on life saving medicines either in any print media, electronic media and social media platforms. In fact, this should be prohibited in Karnataka by amending information technology act (IT Act) to support Drugs and Cosmetics Act and Rules, they noted.
Also, no corporate chain of medical stores should advertise about offers of discounts, coupons, membership points etc. Only NGOs should be allowed to open medical store chains as a not for profit business. In Punjab, such a model was successfully implemented and corporates could open retail medical stores for charity and as a corporate social responsibility, said Jayaram and Kapparshetter.
On similar lines, no special discounts should be allowed to corporate hospitals from pharma companies which is passed on to the patients as the same medicines are sold in pharmacies.
Karnataka government should have a strict surveillance on e-pharmacies and sale of medicines through social media platforms, as this violates the Drugs & Cosmetics Act. On a concluding note, KPRDO called on the state government to frame the State Rules in the interest of pharmacists fraternity and public health.
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