Health Minister To Meet Epharmacy Executives To Discuss Data Privacy Concerns

Amid reports that the Centre is mulling a ban on epharmacies, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya will reportedly soon meet the representatives of online drug stores to discuss concerns around the space.

News agency PTI, citing sources, reported that high on the agenda of the meeting would be concerns around data privacy and irrational sales of prescription drugs by these platforms. Privacy of patient data appears to be another major area of concern for the government. 

The report said that digital pharmacies collect area-wise data on consumption of drugs, which can increase risks associated with patient safety.

However, the exact date of the meeting is not clear yet. 

Last month, it was reported that a Group of Ministers (GoM) has advocated a ban on epharmacies citing allegations of malpractices, predatory pricing and data privacy concerns. 

The epharmacy space, which is dominated by startups and conglomerates such as PharmEasy, NetMeds, Tata 1mg, Flipkart and Amazon in the country, has been marred by regulatory hurdles. 

Earlier this year, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) sent notices to 20 epharmacies, including Tata 1mg, Amazon, Flipkart, NetMeds and MediBuddy, for flouting local drug norms.

Prior to that in February, the Ministry of Health warned the healthtech platforms of an impending ban for dispatching medicines without prescriptions. 

Apart from that, the Centre has also been looking to build a regulatory framework to bring such platforms under the ambit of law. To address the current lacunae in laws governing pharmacies, the Centre last year released the draft New Drugs, Medical Devices and Cosmetics Bill, 2022 that had provisions to build a licensing regime for digital pharmacies. 

Building on that, the government is currently working on a revised version of the Bill which grants it the powers to regulate, restrict, or prohibit the sale of any drug via online mode. The proposed Bill is currently pending before an inter-ministerial panel for consultation. 

Besides the regulatory quagmire, macroeconomic headwinds and fears of a recession have also pushed the epharmacies in a corner. With investors now focusing on profitable ventures or those with a clear path to profitability, the high cash burn model of the healthtech space has not gone down well with VC and PE investors. 

The funding winter and shelved public listing of players such as PharmEasy have made matters worse for the homegrown space which is projected to reach a market size of INR 8,947 Cr by 2027. 

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