Assam Drug Outlets Observe Bandh

Wholesale and retail drug outlets throughout Assam closed operations yesterday in response to a bandh call given by the Assam Drug Dealers Association. The association is seeking local tax parity on medicines sold in the country.

Assam Drug Dealers Association general secretary Gautam Banerjee, said the one country, one price demand has assumed paramount importance as the inscription local taxes extra on the label of the medicines above the price mentioned created unnecessary confusion and misunderstanding between the medicine retailer and the consumer. The chemists and the druggists demanded that all medicines irrespective of their categories and schedules must carry the label showing maximum retail price inclusive of all taxes which will bring uniformity of drug price throughout the country . This will also protect the interests of the consumers and saving the chemists from humiliation, they added.

 

They said chemists are entitled to recover from consumers the amount of taxes paid by them to suppliers. An average chemist has to stock and sell at least 6000 different brands of drugswhich makes it impossible to remember the exact amount of taxes paid and to collect it from the consumer without committing mistakes.

Even excess collection of a few paise would invite penal provision of law and imprisonment of three months.

The complex nature of other taxes, tariffs, octroi, turnover tax and value added tax among others have made the problem worse as the chemists are likely to commit more mistakes, thus inviting humiliation from the consumers and prosecution from authorities concerned, they added.