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TNCDA alerts NPPA about counterfeit drug racket in Pondicherry & online trade malpractices
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Peethaambaran Kunnathoor, Chennai
January 27 , 2026
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The Tamil Nadu Chemists and Druggists Association (TNCDA) has raised alarm in a formal appeal to the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) regarding the findings of sophisticated illegal manufacturing rings in Pondicherry.
The association revealed that branded products from leading pharmaceutical companies are being manufactured and sold illegally under their original names in the Union Territory of Pondicherry. These unauthorized drugs are being pushed into the market with heavy discounts, a practice the TNCDA warns could induce standalone pharmacies to unknowingly purchase and sell counterfeit products to survive, ultimately compromising the entire public healthcare safety net.
The TNCDA’s petition, signed by president S.A. Ramesh and general secretary G. Ashok, emphasizes that this crisis is being exacerbated by the lack of stringent rules for online medicine sales. The association, representing approximately 40,000 members, argues that web portals and major chain stores are creating unethical trade practices through significant price variations. They maintain that as long as the government permits unregulated digital sales, it provides a convenient veil for spurious drugs, like those recently uncovered in Pondicherry, to infiltrate the legitimate supply chain.
Background reports from the Union Territory confirm the gravity of the TNCDA's claims, with authorities recently referring a multi-crore counterfeit medicine racket to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The investigation has already led to the arrest of over a dozen individuals, including a former Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer and an alleged kingpin named Raja. Investigators found that these illegal units, operating out of unlicensed warehouses in areas like the Mettupalayam Industrial Estate, were producing sophisticated copies of drugs for chronic conditions like diabetes, epilepsy, and heart disease.
The scale of the Pondicherry operation was vast, with seizures totalling approximately Rs. 30 crore in counterfeit products. Forensic evidence revealed that the counterfeiters were not just replicating the medicine, but also using advanced machinery to produce authentic-looking holograms, QR codes, and packaging to mimic brands like Lupin, Sun Pharma, and Abbott. This level of sophistication allowed the fake products to bypass standard visual checks and even infiltrate official government hospital supply chains through fraudulent tenders.
In immediate response to these findings, the department of drugs control has cancelled the licenses of six pharmaceutical firms, including Lorven Pharmaceuticals and New Jersy Lifecare Pharma. To prevent further distribution of potentially lethal ‘not of standard quality’ (NSQ) drugs, drug controller Dr. E. Anandakrishnan has mandated a 100 per cent batch-wise sampling and testing protocol. All wholesale and retail medical shops in Pondicherry are now required to submit laboratory quality reports before any batch of medicine can be released to the public.
The TNCDA continues to urge the union government to use the Pondicherry incident as a catalyst for sweeping regulatory reform. They argue that until online pharmacies and large chain stores are held to the same rigorous oversight as traditional standalone pharmacies, the risk of administrative tyranny and market corruption will remain. The association stands firm in its request for the NPPA to intervene immediately, halting the illegal and unfair trade practices that have allowed these counterfeit networks to thrive in the first place.
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