Hyderabad: The Telangana Drugs Control Administration (DCA) has issued show-cause notices to 41 medical shops linked to online pharmacies after detecting multiple violations during a special statewide enforcement drive.During the inspections, DCA officials examined 166 medical shops associated with online pharmacy operations across Telangana. Of these, 159 were linked to online medicine delivery services, including licensed premises of online pharmacy operators and their partner pharmacies, while seven shops were associated with online B2B platforms such as IndiaMART.“Several irregularities, including failure to maintain or produce medicine sales bills, non-maintenance of prescription drug and Schedule H1 drug registers, inability to furnish purchase invoices, dispensing prescription medicines without valid prescriptions issued by registered medical practitioners, sale of medicines without the supervision of registered pharmacists, and improper maintenance of sales and purchase records,” said an official.Following the inspections, show-cause notices were served to 41 medical shops. The DCA stated that further action would be initiated under the Drugs and Cosmetics Act and related rules.Officials reiterated that strict adherence to statutory requirements is mandatory for all medical shops, including those associated with online platforms, and warned that violations would invite stringent action.
