Half of online drug orders end up getting cancelled

Online pharma retailers say that most customers are not submitting valid prescriptions online

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Online pharma retailers, under attack from offline sellers, end up cancelling almost 50 per cent of the orders they get, mainly due to lack of a proper prescription. Buyers are being sensitised to have a proper and current prescription from their doctors before going for an online purchase.

"People are still not educated about placing an online order for medicines. There are times when some buyers have clicked photo of a medicine and uploaded with a desire to purchase. Today, you will not get a medicine online without a valid prescription," said Dharmil Sheth, co-founder of PharmEasy, an app-only platform selling medicines. PharmEasy ends up cancelling about 40 per cent of the 1,000 orders it gets every day.

A large number of Indians have been purchasing clothes, books, electronics, furniture and even automobiles online. But pharmacy is a new category, with most of the online platforms starting services only in the last six months.

"We have a process of validating prescription by a trained pharmacist. The biggest challenge is that many dont have a valid prescription. An updated prescription means the patient is being regularly monitored by the doctor,'' said Pradeep Dadha, founder and chief executive officer of NetMeds, an online platform, which secured funding of $50 million last week. The rejection rate is close to 50 per cent. ''Today, you can go with a three year old prescription and buy from a store. At times, you can also buy without a prescription. Many don't insist on seeing a prescription," Dadha pointed out.

Currently, Netmeds cancels half of the 300-400 orders it gets every day. And, among other things, the funding that the company has recently got will be used to increase consumer awareness about online purchase.

Most online sellers consider a prescription valid if it has been issued on a doctor's letterhead or a clinic/hospital letterhead, has the doctor's and patient's name printed clearly, mentions the doctor's qualification, registration number and telephone number. It also needs to have the name of medicine, duration of course, etc clearly specified along with date of issue and doctor's signature. If any of these is missing, the buyer is asked to get a new prescription.

Puneet Kapoor, director at BigChemist, an online seller in the capital, says there have been occasions when his team had to call the doctor and verify if he has prescribed a particular medicine in a particular quantity. "If one asks for ten strips of Disprin, I won't sell without checking with the doctor," he said.

The All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD), which claims to be the apex body of 7,50,000 chemists and druggists, has been vehemently opposing all forms of online medicine sales. The union government has set up a sub-committee to look into the provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and Rules, 1945, and examine the online medicine retail practices being followed in developed countries and evaluate the risks and concerns of online sale and its impact on public health.